Thread: interesting NYT article on "copyright morality"
View Single Post
Old 12-26-2007, 01:54 PM   #8
hogleg
Enthusiast
hogleg ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hogleg ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hogleg ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hogleg ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hogleg ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hogleg ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hogleg ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hogleg ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hogleg ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hogleg ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.hogleg ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 37
Karma: 452360
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Hanlin V3
Quote:
Originally Posted by delphidb96 View Post
Two things. First, if the ebook prices are low enough - and charging more than the cost of a mass-market paperback for a regular-release ebook novel is *ALWAYS* too HIGH - then there's little need for most people to 'steal' ebooks. And it isn't stealing if a person has already purchased a dead-tree version and the publisher refuses to release an ebook version. After all, it is legal to scan a book one owns into one's own computer, and downloading a copy from a free download site when one already owns a dead-tree version is morally the same thing - the person is just letting someone else make the scanning effort. (I make an exception to this in the scenario where a person 'creates' an ebook version and then sells it to others - that is clearly stealing.) And the one scenario where charging MORE than mmpb prices would make sense is where, as Baen does it, it 'pre'-releases an 'electronic' Advanced Reader Copy (eARC) of the book before the dead-tree version hits the shelves. (Having the privilege of reading several Baen editions months before the average customer can find them in the local bookstores is a thrill well-worth, in my opinion, spending $15 for the eARC. )

Second, ebooks are an excellent 'buzz' generator. Even were the publishers to break even on ebook sales due to 'pirated' copies, the word-of-mouth advertising far outweighs any 'piracy' revenue loss.

Derek
sorry, I type like a monkey.

I agree for the most part. Buzz generation would mean a lot more if there was a product to buy If I have an ebook, and it generates buzz, which just causes you to steal the same ebook, it not much good.

As far as scanning a book you own to have a digital copy, thats a fundamental change in technology that needs to be addressed. Before, if you loaned out the book, It didn't increase the numbers out there...now you can loan someone a copy, and keep the real thing, rather than really loan your book.

The rest is because publishers (other that Baen) dont really have a sales model that uses digital media as more than an afterthought.
Last edited by hogleg; 12-26-2007 at 02:19 PM.
hogleg is offline   Reply With Quote