Quote:
Originally Posted by Alisa
In my opinion, no. I think it definitely skews the numbers when people try to study the economic impact of copyright infringement. Personally, I have more of an ethical problem with the media they actually consume. They enjoyed it but didn't feel like giving the producer his or her due.
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I can completely understand that.
What would you feel about the below situation, just out of curiosity? (And it's okay if you don't want to answer - I'm just honestly talking out loud here.)
Author A has an older book that is still in print. Author A would like the older book to be available in eBook form, but the publisher refuses to allow the conversion. Author A would like the book to go out of print so that they could make the eBook available, but Publisher P still retains the rights for X number of years.
Customer C owns the paperback copy of the book and would like to buy the eBook in question, but is stymied because the eBook doesn't exist due to Publisher P's refusal to convert and sell the book. Consumer C decides to download the DarkNet copy of the book, and sends Author A an anonymous Paypal tip on Author A's website because Customer C can afford to support a favorite author.
Customer C gets the book they want. Author A gets money to support their work. Publisher P doesn't get any money, but this is largely because they've made a clear statement that they don't want money in exchange for eBooks.
Is this piracy?
(The legal answer is, perhaps, yes. IANAL, etc. But in your/everyone-else-in-this-thread's personal opinion?)