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Originally Posted by Lemurion
Downloading copyrighted materials without the legal right to do so is a violation of copyright, and therefore illegal.
Some number of such downloads are by people who would otherwise have bought a copy of said material and count as a "lost sale" and a loss of income to the rights holder.
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Which is the crux of the matter.
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Some number of such downloads are by people who would not otherwise have bought a copy of said material and should not count as a "lost sale" or loss of income to the rights holder.
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I agree that it is should not directly count as a lost sale, however it is unauthorized use of someone else's property. Further, the same argument would not hold water if it was applied to physical property.
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Some number of such downloads are by people who later go on to purchase a copy of said material they would not otherwise have bought and should count as a "gained sale" and gain of income to the rights holder.
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Which is totally irrelevant to the situation. If I steal something and then later for some reason send payment for it, it doesn't make me less guilty of theft; the most it can be claimed is that I have made restitution for my wrong.
Further of course, I would say this is less likely with books than it is with other sorts of media. When music is downloaded, if someone likes a song, they will listen to it quite a few times. If someone likes a book, they might read it again in a year or two. Therefore there is less immediate incentive to pay for the work.
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No one knows the exact proportions and the numbers undoubtedly vary both by time and by which specific material is being considered. I believe we'll never get exact numbers, and I don't trust anyone who says they have exact and generally applicable numbers.
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I agree we will never get exact numbers. However, with respect none of the arguments in any way changes the moral equation. Harm is done to the author, the fact that an offsetting benefit is produced by others (who also violated the author's right) does not justify the harm done.
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Bill