Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
But you don't have to pay for an mp3 of a song you have on vinyl. It's easy to make a digital copy; even easier if you are copying from a CD.
When I buy a CD, in effect I'm getting both the CD and the mp3 files. But with a book, I have to make two separate purchases.
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Only if you don't want to do the conversion work yourself.
To get the mp3 files off the CD, you need specialized hardware and software. Today, most people already have the hardware (a computer) and the software might come bundled with that, or it's easily downloadable for free. But you *do* need those things, which are not included in the price of the CD, and you need to know how to use them to get MP3s.
To get an ebook out of a book, you need a scanner and computer... and, if you want it formatted differently from the book, an OCR program and some kind of ebook/text editor. It's a lot more complicated than converting a CD, and a lot more time consuming (sort of? There's a lot more content in the book). But the process of conversion has the same kinds of steps: must apply hardware & software to get a functional digital copy; may need extra hardware or software if you're picky about the type of digital copy.
It only gets strange when someone says "I already have a copy of that; how 'bout I give it to you and save you the hassle of work I've already done?" Currently, that's not legal.
Copyright law requires that each person wanting a converted copy either buy it from the publisher, or convert it themselves. This is wasted work, duplication of effort with no purpose other than pushing money at the publisher. (I am presuming that "just pay for the legit copy" is not an option, either due to finances or regional restrictions or some other reason.)
This may be a reasonable goal, but those of us who grew up knowing there's never enough hands to get all the work done, whatever work that might be, are understandably dismayed at the idea that the "right" thing to do is pointless drudgery. It feels both wasteful and selfish.