Quote:
Originally Posted by H-P
Is someone here has allready recopy a full paperbook to create an ebook ?
In my case, i definitly think that is unfair competition to cut and paste content done by volunteers, and making business with this kind of work.
This is unfair, because a publisher which work in this book industry can't pay salary, tax,...to create ebooks publications and stay in competition with someone who's pay nothing by using this kind of work.
Work done for free by free volunteers has to stay outside the business market. that definitly my point of view. I also think than a lot of volunteers who's created textes this last 10 years, didn't do it for some f... lazy guys.
---> Joykin, when you work 2, 3 weeks to make serious work for one ebook. And someone come with the full gutemberg in one ebook for 1 dollar. Do you think than you can sell your ebook for one dollar = one month of work.
|
In that case, I think, by normal business practices in the US, the editor/publisher that pays taxes, salaries, etc. and
comes up with no better than free volunteer work is a fool*. This publisher should be leveraging the free volunteer work at the very least. From the other side, the
customer who will pay for a book that is freely available is also a fool**. That customer should be obtaining the free copy, which is no better than the paid one.
Now, I said "no better." If, for example, the Gutenberg (let's say) edition has no explanatory footnotes, no illustrations, no hyperlinked chapter divisions, or any of the other extras that make ebooks so much fun (as some of the ebooks posted to MobileRead are so enhanced) then this is something that a person might want to pay for as it has added value to the free version. Thus the editions being free vs. paid are not comparable.
*or at the very least, profiting from asymmetrical information
** or at the very least, suffering from asymmetrical information