Book piracy: Less DRM, more data

[elcreative]

You aren't looking then, huge amounts of Freeware, Shareware and Donationware available across the net... and a lot of it is very good quality...

Also Baen's not giving away an unpublished first in a series... these are all previously released Hardcover/MMPB from established authors so hardly needing to find a new line of work if unsuccessful... they are always part of a popular existing series and yes, if they get liked then they have acquired a buyer for the rest so great idea to keep both current and backlists viable...

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I remember twenty years ago when shareware was a popular concept for computer programs. You downloaded the program, and then if you liked it you sent the company ten dollars. It worked on the honor system.

I suppose that didn't work out too well, because I haven't seen much shareware in years, although I sometimes see it at tucows.

What makes more sense to me is giving away the first book of a series for free, like Baen does. If nobody likes the book, the author needs to find a new line of work. But if they do, the author has customers for the remainder of the series.

[FF2]

I guess he could look down the forum list and check out Calibre. Then a bit further is Sigil. Then there are the unspeakable drm plugins. Someone, somewhere still believes in some of the old concepts.

[elcreative]

Good point, I should have remembered them myself...

Originally Posted by FF2

I guess he could look down the forum list and check out Calibre. Then a bit further is Sigil. Then there are the unspeakable drm plugins. Someone, somewhere still believes in some of the old concepts.

[jgaiser]

Indeed. I've already donated a bit to Calibre, though not Sigil. I've downloaded and looked at it, but haven't spent enough time to make it useful yet. If I do, I'll drop a bit in the tip jar.,

[OtterBooks]

Yeah, it does have an impact. It gets me to buy a used hardcover, or if necessary, a used paperback, instead, that doesn't have any of the ridiculous DRM restrictions associated with it.

What gets me to buy a used hardcover is it being available for $4-$7 including shipping for a very nice condition copy, which is often. DRM doesn't bother me, personally. It hasn't restricted anything I want to do with my ebooks (yet) so for me it's invisible.

Indeed. I've already donated a bit to Calibre..

Ah, that reminds me to do that.

[silasgreenback]

Originally Posted by sunlioness

A while ago I watched a film I bought on DVD called The Corporation. It was an amazing documentary and it ended with these words:

"If you have watched this film for free and you have enjoyed it, please consider going to our website and donating. The film was made by dedicated, independent filmmakers who have spent the better part of the past nine years funding, producing and promoting this film. Please send a monetary thank-you note to the filmmakers for their years of effort making and promoting the film."

Things like that have an appeal.

As far as publishers, the "more flies with honey than vinegar" rule seems to apply.

Ace Books has this statement about copyright:

"No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorized editions."

Fictionwise has this:

"NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the purchaser. If you did not purchase this ebook directly from Fictionwise.com then you are in violation of copyright law and are subject to severe fines. Please visit www.fictionwise.com to purchase a legal copy. Fictionwise.com offers a reward for information leading to the conviction of copyright violators of Fictionwise ebooks."

There's no question which one sounds like Wilford Brimley and I'd rather spend my money with the one that didn't give me a stern dressing down before enticing me to be a snitch.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by silasgreenback

"Fictionwise.com offers a reward for information leading to the conviction of copyright violators of Fictionwise ebooks."

Has there ever been a conviction for ebook filesharing? I only know of a handful convictions for music filesharing, and none for ebooks.

I suspect that this is mostly because there's no literary equivalent of the RIAA; no mega-organization that can prosecute on behalf of hundreds of authors. The penalty for violating a single author's copyright wouldn't be worth chasing down. (And DC & Marvel comics don't have legit digital versions of old comics, so they'd be hard-pressed to prove the financial value/damages of comic torrenting.)

[OtterBooks]

I'd be surprised if publishers made any real effort against organized filesharing. Doesn't seem worth their time for a variety of reasons, certain failure being only one of them.

[valb2953]

The geographic restrictions make no sense.Nobody can enforce them.Besides,why apply them only to ebooks? If I go into a bookstore anywhere in the world and buy a book,nobody would ask me where I plan to read the book,and nobody prevents me from taking the book home,once I paid for it.Why should it be different for ebooks?
Valentin Bazavan

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by valb2953

The geographic restrictions make no sense.Nobody can enforce them.Besides,why apply them only to ebooks? If I go into a bookstore anywhere in the world and buy a book,nobody would ask me where I plan to read the book,and nobody prevents me from taking the book home,once I paid for it.Why should it be different for ebooks?
Valentin Bazavan

I think local publishers weren't concerned about people walking into bookstores all over the world as that would be a fairly small amount of lost revenue.

However, what surprises me is that sites like Amazon and Book Depot etc.. have already made it possible to ignore local bookstores/publishers altogether. Geographic restrictions make just as much sense to me purchasing paper books from Amazon as it does buying ebooks from Amazon.

Seems bizarre to me.

Regards
Caleb

[Nick_Djinn]

I also think its ridiculous to charge full price for a few MB of data transfer without a tangible physical book that they are shipping and selling. They are getting greedy, wanting too much for the electronic substitute. People would pay $1.99 for an e-book, and perhaps you would sell more copies and end out making more money overall. At $1.99, its not worth the hassle of piracy. At $3.99 it MIGHT not be worth the hassle of piracy if its something you want to read and you can have it faster by downloading it.

If the copyright protection slows me down and is less convenient and harder to use than the pirated copy, regardless of price I will go for the pirated copy because the additional effort of the protection takes away the joy of reading. Even without lowering prices, a less invasive form of protection would serve them by not pissing people off. Ive seen people delete their copyright books and download the illegal version, even after paying for it, because the copyright version is less desirable......I dont really know how that works because I dont buy books, but rumor has it that sometimes copyright protection can be a chore.....I know this is true with games that use the STEAM engine on Windows and Linux. The pirated version requires less effort to set up than the legally purchased version. Thats backwards. The stuff you pay for needs to be more convenient, not less convenient.

[Anke Wehner]

Originally Posted by caleb72

However, what surprises me is that sites like Amazon and Book Depot etc.. have already made it possible to ignore local bookstores/publishers altogether. Geographic restrictions make just as much sense to me purchasing paper books from Amazon as it does buying ebooks from Amazon.

Yep. And that is why "we are just honouring our contracts which still date from print publishing and include geographic restrictions" is such a nonsensical arguement. Either there IS no actual ban on selling US paperbacks outside of North America, or Amazon.de has a huge lawsuit hanging over their heads...

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by Anke Wehner

Yep. And that is why "we are just honouring our contracts which still date from print publishing and include geographic restrictions" is such a nonsensical arguement. Either there IS no actual ban on selling US paperbacks outside of North America, or Amazon.de has a huge lawsuit hanging over their heads...

The problem is simple: in both cases the publisher buys the right to sell in a specific geographic region.

The problem exists because of different interpretations of the actual point of sale. With a physical book, the point of sale is the location of the seller. With an electronic book, the point of sale is the purchaser's credit card billing address.

So physical books can be sold to anyone anywhere in the world, but the seller can only sell books licensed for their region. So Amazon.de can only sell the physical editions that are available in Germany, but a German can buy the US edition from Amazon.com, because with paper books the restriction is on the seller, not the buyer.

For ebooks the restriction has been reversed and applies to the buyer.

It's the same restriction, applied based on the same factor (point of sale) but the definition of point of sale differs for physical and electronic sales, that's all.

[Freeshadow]

and said restriction reversal is big honking idiocy IMHO that is

[Anke Wehner]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

The problem is simple: in both cases the publisher buys the right to sell in a specific geographic region.

The problem exists because of different interpretations of the actual point of sale. With a physical book, the point of sale is the location of the seller. With an electronic book, the point of sale is the purchaser's credit card billing address.

So physical books can be sold to anyone anywhere in the world, but the seller can only sell books licensed for their region. So Amazon.de can only sell the physical editions that are available in Germany, but a German can buy the US edition from Amazon.com, because with paper books the restriction is on the seller, not the buyer.

For ebooks the restriction has been reversed and applies to the buyer.

It's the same restriction, applied based on the same factor (point of sale) but the definition of point of sale differs for physical and electronic sales, that's all.

So, then the ebook and print book HAVE (in some cases) different regional restrictions? Because I was talking about a book of which I could buy the US paper edition from amazon.DE, but could not buy the digital edition from amazon.com.