Quote:
Originally Posted by bingle
Is the relative 'polish' of commercial ebooks a factor in anyone's decision? People have claimed that iTunes' success lies, in part, in providing reliable, easy-to-find versions of songs. Pirate music, while cheaper, isn't as reliable or as easy to use.
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Honestly, I think this is where the decisions are ultimately going to be made, regardless of the legality (or even ethics) of the rest of the arguments. I truly believe that if you make it inexpensive and simple to do the right thing, most people will, and the minority who may not won't be worth worrying about.
Unfortunately, our existing copyright structure gets in the way of doing the right thing, instead of making it easier. Disney wants to be able to control the market supply of their content to hike up the price, so works are allowed-- even encouraged-- to go out of print. And even in the case of works like books, with a single author, the author may want to get the book back into print but may have no way of doing so, because the rights may be tied up by a publishing house that's now defunct, but someone else bought their backlist and is sitting on it.
In this sense, I think sharing files can, in fact, be an act of civil disobedience. There are certainly risks and consequences, as the BlackMask story shows. But, for example, most of
Rumer Godden's work is now out of print. She died 10 years ago. PG has access to
none of her writings. Her estate apparently plans to put out a few new editions for the centennial of her birth, this year, but I bet most of her excellent books for children will be left in obscurity. How can this be good for anyone?