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I have a question.
What is the effect on authors and publishers of physical book shoplifting?
I earlier suggested that physical shoplifting often results in one less book being pulped, thus helping the book industry as a whole. But I suppose that the effect is different on the bookseller, the publisher, the author who has earned out the advance, and the author who hasn't earned out the advance.
There also are times when paper book shoplifting results in an additional copy being stocked by the bookstore. Who is helped and hurt then?
I realize that sometimes "the bookseller" is an individual/family/partnership, where other times it is the holders of stocks and bonds.
Of course, my thinking on the issue is that the morality has nothing to do with who is helped and hurt. Book piracy is always wrong except when done to circumvent government censorship, and book shoplifting is always wrong, period. But, still, I'm wondering about how the system works.
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