Quote:
Originally Posted by AnotherCat
Another take is:
A keen amateur cook called Wendy illicitly downloads a copy of The Jolly Roger Crew's Favorite Dishes by Captain Hook from getyourfree bookshere.xxx and so would be called a "thief" by those who use extravagant words to enhance their case.
Wendy goes along to her cooking circle with a sample of one of the recipes which all find to be delicious and ask where the recipe came from. She tells them the name of the book it came from and that it is full of wonderful recipes. As a result six of the cooking circle members go off and buy the book.
So, has the "thief" now become a "benefactor" to the author?
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With all due respect, that's always the story. That somehow, the pirate is going to spread the word, creating WOM (word-of-mouth) enthusiasm, which will result in sales, right?
Anytime anyone here wants to see what business professionals really think of that, head on over to ClientsFromHell.com, and read the ubiquitous
endless stories from designers, consultants, and other businesses, and their reactions to these
constant pitches, from tightwads, who want the designer, et al, to
do work for nothing or near-nothing, and, as part of the pitch, how the ensuing publicity or exposure is going to "make them famous," or how they'll get TONS of jobs from this tightwad's job.
Every person there that's fallen for
that line once has learned better--all doing a job for nothing or near-nothing results in is lost and deserved income. I fail to see why the situation is
ANY different for authors and their work.
Is it possible that ONE pirate
MIGHT actually tell someone, who
might buy the book in turn? Sure, it's
possible. But given that the pirate felt justified in helping herself to the book for nothing, why on earth wouldn't she just
send the file to her friends, who want it now? Why would she tell
THEM to buy it, when she cavalierly
didn't? Like all people who don't value something that she got for free, I don't understand the thought process that would indicate that she'd tell them to buy it, rather than just copying it over to these other would-be fans.
Isn't that, quite frankly, the more-likely outcome? That she'll tell her friends "oh, don't worry, I'll send you a copy"? And, in fact,
further damage the publisher, as those sewing-circle acquaintances might otherwise have bought the book?
Hitch