Do you pirate books and why?

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There's no "may have" about it. Several of the major publishers do not permit their eBooks to be lent in libraries.

Has it been tried and ruled on by a court? If not, then we don't know yet if they really have that power. Hence "may have".

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

In the UK, the Copyright Act specifically grants libraries the right to distribute (paper) books. As compensation for the fact that an author no longer has the right to withhold a book from library distribution, the "Public Lending Right" (PLR) payment was brought in, which pays an author a small amount of money every time one of their books is borrowed from a library.

Perhaps a solution to the eBook issue is to introduce a payment similar to - or an extension of - the PLR for eBook loans from libraries?

There's no such thing in the US for pBooks.

If you want to propose a PLR for eBook loans in the UK, and by extension the copyright holder no longer has the right to withhold... then go for it. Sounds to me like that should have been the default condition (in the UK) anyway.

[ijoecoles]

Nope, need to support the authors who put their hard work into writing the book

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I did read what you actually said, which was... "eBook piracy is depriving authors of their livelihood."

And which is false. In some cases piracy will increase an authors income.

[ianw]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

A slight twist on the usual derail Harry, someone said that if it's harmful to illegally download books because it deprives the author of income then bad reviews are equally harmful to the author so whats the difference.

Frankly, I've given up - the people who want it for free are never going to agree that is it "using without permission" and therefore wrong.
You can compare it to :-
Using the train without paying
Sneaking into the cinema without paying
etc
It won't matter, the important thing to 1 side of this discussion here is the not paying part.

1/ If the person downloading the book would never ever buy the book, how does that deprive the author of any sort of revenue.

Note sure your comparisons work.


2/ Comparison. Downloading a digital copy of something is the exactly like taking a picture of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre deprives Vincent van Gogh of revenue as the original artist.

Please note, taking a picture of the Mona Lisa, is not treated in the same way as taking it off the wall and walking out with it, ONE is theft, ONE is not I know the mpaa/riaa and various other organizations like to portray it as theft, but the law does not. One is a civil issue, one criminal.

That said, people that download one book in a Trilogy enjoy it, then buy the lot, aren't really doing the wrong thing by the Author are they?

and the ones that download the Trilogy, read it, but won't ever buy the book in the first place, will never give the Author a dime.

For me, I'm a lot closer to number one, if I can't find the book in the library, or e-library, then I might seek Friends reccomendations, if I can't get that, then I'll "borrow" the first book.

Hence, I bought the Hunger games Trilogy recently loved the first, bought the set.

[WritePR]

Hi, I'm new here. This thread caught my eye and I wish it hadn't. I'm a writer, and the many instances of hate, contempt and just plain disrespect for writers I found in this thread infuriate me, as does the ignorance of publishing rights and what things are and are not under the authors and retailer's control.

Despite what one poster so arrogantly proclaimed, many writers do NOT have a day job. I'm one of them. Writing IS my day job. It pays my bills and puts food on my table. I do not understand why many of you feel writers don't deserve to be paid for their work. Writing a book isn't easy. Selling it isn't either, although with ebooks it's become less difficult. Why do you think we should write for free?? How would you feel if you worked in a profession where you created or made something..clothing, cars, baseballs, whatever, and people told you since they could not afford your merchandise or it wasn't available where they lived, they were entitled to steal it? Writers create stories, characters and often entire worlds, and no one has a right to steal them any more than they have a right to steal a car or an iPad.

I don't buy the nonsense that it's no different than buying a used book or going to the library or getting a book from a friend, because somewhere along the line, the author was PAID for that book. People that refuse to buy the paper version OR the electronic version and download it from some torrent site instead are stealing, period.

Can't afford to buy a book? Go to the library.

I just find it unbelievable that some of you think writers should write for free.

I'll go back to lurking now.

[WT Sharpe]

I fully agree, WritePR. Thanks for posting that.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WritePR

Hi, I'm new here. This thread caught my eye and I wish it hadn't. I'm a writer, and the many instances of hate, contempt and just plain disrespect for writers I found in this thread infuriate me, as does the ignorance of publishing rights and what things are and are not under the authors and retailer's control.

Despite what one poster so arrogantly proclaimed, many writers do NOT have a day job. I'm one of them. Writing IS my day job. It pays my bills and puts food on my table. I do not understand why many of you feel writers don't deserve to be paid for their work. Writing a book isn't easy. Selling it isn't either, although with ebooks it's become less difficult. Why do you think we should write for free?? How would you feel if you worked in a profession where you created or made something..clothing, cars, baseballs, whatever, and people told you since they could not afford your merchandise or it wasn't available where they lived, they were entitled to steal it? Writers create stories, characters and often entire worlds, and no one has a right to steal them any more than they have a right to steal a car or an iPad.

I don't buy the nonsense that it's no different than buying a used book or going to the library or getting a book from a friend, because somewhere along the line, the author was PAID for that book. People that refuse to buy the paper version OR the electronic version and download it from some torrent site instead are stealing, period.

Can't afford to buy a book? Go to the library.

I just find it unbelievable that some of you think writers should write for free.

I'll go back to lurking now.

Quoted for truth and good writing! And very well said. I'm in the same boat and rowing the same direction WritePR. Karmas...

[Format C:]

Originally Posted by WritePR

Hi, I'm new here. This thread caught my eye and I wish it hadn't. I'm a writer, and the many instances of hate, contempt and just plain disrespect for writers I found in this thread infuriate me, as does the ignorance of publishing rights and what things are and are not under the authors and retailer's control.

Despite what one poster so arrogantly proclaimed, many writers do NOT have a day job. I'm one of them. Writing IS my day job. It pays my bills and puts food on my table. I do not understand why many of you feel writers don't deserve to be paid for their work. Writing a book isn't easy. Selling it isn't either, although with ebooks it's become less difficult. Why do you think we should write for free?? How would you feel if you worked in a profession where you created or made something..clothing, cars, baseballs, whatever, and people told you since they could not afford your merchandise or it wasn't available where they lived, they were entitled to steal it? Writers create stories, characters and often entire worlds, and no one has a right to steal them any more than they have a right to steal a car or an iPad.

I don't buy the nonsense that it's no different than buying a used book or going to the library or getting a book from a friend, because somewhere along the line, the author was PAID for that book. People that refuse to buy the paper version OR the electronic version and download it from some torrent site instead are stealing, period.

Can't afford to buy a book? Go to the library.

I just find it unbelievable that some of you think writers should write for free.

I'll go back to lurking now.

I'm with you, here.
And I'm paying you for your work, I assure you...

Still, I don't understand why mi grand-grand-children have to pay your grand-grand-children 90 years after your death for a work they didn't do.

[WritePR]

Originally Posted by Format C:

I'm with you, here.
And I'm paying you for your work, I assure you...

Still, I don't understand why mi grand-grand-children have to pay your grand-grand-children 90 years after your death for a work they didn't do.

The rights to their work were part of their estate. Just like heirs would be entitled to income generated from an inherited business, rental property, or patent, they are entitled to income generated from those inherited rights if they chose to sell them or continue the deceased's contract with a publisher. Many times an author's work means so much to their heirs that they want to keep control of it. Sometimes not, and then it goes into the public domain.

[MikeOxlittle]

If it makes you feel better I'm only stealing from established multi-millionaire authors ... not independent authors.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by MikeOxlittle

If it makes you feel better I'm only stealing from established multi-millionaire authors

Are you sure? Getting on a bestseller list a few times, even in the US, does not necessarily make you one of the 1 percent.

Also, a lot of books were created by a team of people, or even ghost-written. Even if you have some proof that the author of record is a multi-millionaire, the rest of the team is not.

Come to think of it, my pension is largely invested in the Standard & Poor 500, which I believe to include some of these big publishers. So a tiny amount of the money you owe is owed not to authors, but to me. And while I have the necessities of life, and even more, I am no millionaire.

[KindleChickie]

I don't pirate. I would no more illegally download digital content than I would shoplift.

[MikeOxlittle]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

Are you sure? Getting on a bestseller list a few times, even in the US, does not necessarily make you one of the 1 percent.

Also, a lot of books were created by a team of people, or even ghost-written. Even if you have some proof that the author of record is a multi-millionaire, the rest of the team is not.

Come to think of it, my pension is largely invested in the Standard & Poor 500, which I believe to include some of these big publishers. So a tiny amount of the money you owe is owed not to authors, but to me. And while I have the necessities of life, and even more, I am no millionaire.

Fine, you caught me ... I steal indiscriminately.

[KindleChickie]

Why would my post describing my action be about "catching" you?