[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Sonist

Heh, except, if you really want to read Harry Potter on your ereader, the ONLY way to do it, is by finding a "pirated" copy.

So, who exactly wins here?

I agree. However, as the copyright holder, it's entirely within her right to make completely stupid decisions about the availability of her work.

P.S. For someone so concerned with copyright, Rowling really should not have "pirated" wholesale elements from Mr. Tolkien:

...You say Dementors, I say Nazgûl. You say Lord Voldemort, I say Dark Lord of Mordor....

That's the funny part about all of this. Very little "art" is truly original. Almost every artist (author, musician, painter, etc) borrows ideas and inspiration from previous works. The whole concept of "this work is mine and nobody else is allowed to use/sell it without my permission" is pretty hypocritical when you think about it. The stronger they try to make IP laws, the more they'll wind up hurting the development of the arts. Then again, these days nobody cares about "promoting the progress of science and the useful arts", it's all about profit/control.