Nate,
The problem is this. If there's no monetary damages, there's no 'harm'. You have to be able to show that the author/publisher/whoever has taken damages from the action. And this is where - although the publishers *clearly* don't want it looked at from this point of view - the argument for 'illegality' fails.
It's also almost as if JKR and her publishers are telling 'some' of the market - no thanks, but your money isn't good enough for us. We don't *want* your business. But since it is quite possible for anyone to go to the library, check out the HP books, buy a used OpticBook scanner and create ebooks out of them - and then return the books to the library - JKR and her publishers can't claim they've been harmed.
I'll grant that once a person has done this, there's no physical means of preventing the ebooks from then being given away over the internet or on CDRW discs. But here again, no one has successfully proven that JKR has suffered harm from this.
Just look at how many copies of HP7 were sold in one *DAY! 8.3 *MILLION*. Even at the discount prices some chains were offering, that still racks up to a ton of cash! (I got *my* copy.) Yet here I sit with a copy of HP7 sitting on my PDA. Just as I have the dead tree versions of HP1-6 and the ebook versions. Why? Because I *DO* believe in paying the author. But I *also* prefer reading on my PDA, and soon on my eInk reader. Having done so with Miller and Lee's Korval series - I have TPB, MMPB and some HCs as well as having bought the Embiid versions - but when I couldn't get decent ebook versions for my WinMobile PDA, I created them from 'free' text files I found on Usenet.
And as soon as Baen released them through Webscriptions, I bought the whole set all over again. Why? Because I *want* to encourage authors and publishers to release the books in ebook format.
I'll still keep on transforming those stories I like which are not currently available into personal ebooks, but if I can, I buy them that way. And I let authors know that as soon as they can convince their publishers to release them in ebook format, I'll purchase those copies.
Derek
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate the great
Unless someone has a coherent argument to convey, I am going to avoid this discussion.
I do not claim that it is legal. I merely state that JK Rowling is not being harmed.
Economically, an ebook is not equivalent to a paperback book is not equivalent to a hardback book. The dollar amount they are sold for is not the same. I cannot take one in and trade it equal with another. I believe you mean to say that they are functionally equivalent. That is somewhat true, but irrelevant to this discussion. We are discussing the economics of the situation.
@delphidb96
I disagree with your statement of a "right" to download. It is still theft even if you cannot buy it legally. But in this situation, the value of the theft is $0.00.  That is the whole point of my argument.
P.S. Are you trying to be ironic or sarcastic? I can't tell. |