Quote:
Originally Posted by Giggleton
Would taking a used bookstore's entire stock without paying and then sending the cover price of each book directly to the author be considered stealing, or good moral practice?
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Stealing. Even if we forget about the crime against the store owner.
While some of those books are the product of one man or woman, most were a group project. What about the agent who came up with the thesis and sold the author on it? What about the editor who re-wrote the book? What about the cover art designer? The person who created the charts? The photographers who created the center insert material I find in most non-fiction? It would be stealing from every member, save one, of the village that created the book.
It's true that some members of the village get paid a lot more than others. But it's more fair than if some central government was to give all compensation to the author. Serious research-based non-fiction, which does require a village, would die.