I have found numerous pirated ebooks for free online. Please tell me the benefits of

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Yep two very different consumer models - People who read once and people who re-read books. It's perfectly ok to be in either camp, but how you buy and your work flow can vary quite a bit depending on which camp you are in.

It's not just about re-reading, though. I have ebooks that I bought in the early 2000s that I haven't got around to reading yet. If I'd relied on bookstores to keep those books safe for me I wouldn't have them today, because the stores they were bought from in many cases are no longer in business.

[Apache]

I also download all of my purchases and keep multiple backups of my Calibre Library. I do like to reread books and also have a long TBR list.
Apache

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Ah, but I re-read my books, hence my desire to store them safely.

I reread occassionally. But enough time has usually passed that I'm perfectly willing to pay for the experience again (and it's usually much cheaper by that time).

[hildea]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

- Supports the author, encouraging the production of further books and updates

That's my main reason. I want authors to keep writing and publishing. If pirating takes too much of their profit, they might not be able or willing to publish more books.

Also, if their income is good enough, more of them might be able to quit their day job and write full time, and that may lead to more good books to read for me.

(Also, of course, stealing is wrong, but you asked for reasons beyond morals.)

[BookCat]

Another good reason besides morals is that pirate books are usually very poorly formatted, have chunks missing and lots of typos.

It's also much easier to find the legal versions. In my limited experience it seems that most pirate and torrent sites have been taken down. Many of the internet providers also block access to them. So unless you're prepared to risk entering the dark net, just buy the legal copy.

When I find an ebook which I consider over-priced, I just buy the cheaper used paper copies which Amazon sell. Most of the cost is then the postage. I just wish I could change the font size in a paperback. Time to see the optician, maybe.

[dardonardo]

One question, do you consider piracy to own the paper book and then download the ebook from a shady website?

What about having bought the ebook (which if you read the contract, you do not own, they just lend it to you) and then downloading a copy from somewhere else to keep?

Just something nagging me for a while...

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by dardonardo

One question, do you consider piracy to own the paper book and then download the ebook from a shady website?

One has nothing to do with the other. The latter is piracy. A paper copy you may or may not own doesn't change that.

Buying the hardcover doesn't grant anyone permission to steal the paperback when it's released.

[dardonardo]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

One has nothing to do with the other. The latter is piracy. A paper copy you may or may not own doesn't change that.

Buying the hardcover doesn't grant anyone permission to steal the paperback when it's released.

Good point...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by hildea

That's my main reason. I want authors to keep writing and publishing. If pirating takes too much of their profit, they might not be able or willing to publish more books.

Also, if their income is good enough, more of them might be able to quit their day job and write full time, and that may lead to more good books to read for me.

That is (too a large extent) what happened to the Atari and Commodore ecosystems. They were squeezed out of the market by two types of piracy:

One the one hand, owners of the systems were waaayyy too proficient "sharing" software.

On the other, too many people crunched the numbers and figured it was cheaper to buy PC clones and copy software from work than to buy the cheaper hardware and their own software.

John Dvorak once devoted an entire INFOWORLD column on how the PC platform owed its dominance to piracy. He was exaggerating but not much. One of his points was that dominant PC software owed part of its appeal to squeezing out competitors via piracy. That the network effects that made the software desirable because of user familiarity came from both the legal and illegal user bases.

Again, exaggeration, but not totally wrong.

Pirating the works of an author you enjoy can be self defeating...
...unless the author is Patterson or King or one of their peers. And today, what with sales getting spread across much larger catalogs, even they are impacted.

Besides, it's been documented that a lot of sites promising free (shh!) pdf ebooks don't actually deliver the books. But they do deliver drive-by malware and trojans.

It's not just illegal and unethical but also dangerous to your computing health.

[Apache]

If you make a digital copy of a physical book and then destroy the physical book, can you legally sell or lend the digital book? Unlike buying the eBook you owned the book and did not agree to a contract that only lent the book to you.
I was one of those kids that always asked difficult questions when in school.
Apache

[HLS]

Originally Posted by Divinejames

There have been instances where I have seen books for $8.99 for the Kindle version on Amazon and then free versions of it online. Some of them pirated, and some of them not. For instance, a lot of books on programming are actually free online, but the Amazon will charge money for it.

Clearly, the morally correct thing to do would be to not be a thief and purchase the books in support of the author. I'm absolutely all for that, but could anyone please explain other benefits to purchasing the Kindle version vs using a free or pirated version other than the obvious legality/moral issues?

thanks

How do you know? Legit books can be found free other than that its obvious you would want the legit legal book

[BadBilly]

Originally Posted by Divinejames

There have been instances where I have seen books for $8.99 for the Kindle version on Amazon and then free versions of it online. Some of them pirated, and some of them not. For instance, a lot of books on programming are actually free online, but the Amazon will charge money for it.

Clearly, the morally correct thing to do would be to not be a thief and purchase the books in support of the author. I'm absolutely all for that, but could anyone please explain other benefits to purchasing the Kindle version vs using a free or pirated version other than the obvious legality/moral issues?

thanks

To clarify, if you copy a book without authorization, you are not a thief. You are doing copyright infringement. Making an unauthorized copy of something is not "stealing." You are not depriving anyone of the original. Individual copyright infringement is a civil matter, though some governments have sold out to corporate interests and have been criminalizing it.

There are many reasons you should not infringe on copyright, primarily because doing so deprives creators of payment and discourages them from making more stuff.

There can be advantages to paying for a public domain title if it is nicely presented.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Apache

If you make a digital copy of a physical book and then destroy the physical book, can you legally sell or lend the digital book? Unlike buying the eBook you owned the book and did not agree to a contract that only lent the book to you.
I was one of those kids that always asked difficult questions when in school.
Apache

I'm pretty sure you can't sell a digital book you didn't write yourself, regardless of how you acquired it.
(There was a scanning business that did something similar. Got sued.)

If you destroy the original hardcopy, you wouldn't even have proof you ever owned a legal copy. If you keep it you'll most likely be able to enjoy the digital copy for personal use. Would depend on location: fair use is only a valid defense in some places.

(In case I wasn't clear, I was referring to books under copyright, not Creative Commons or other out of copyright products.)

[Pizza_Cant_Read]

Originally Posted by BookCat

Thank you for the clarification. I'm always worried about being thrown off the site if I join in a discussion of this type. Harry once ticked me off for casually mentioning that I was reading a Wodehouse novel which had been a freebie. I'd downloaded it from MR before the rules were changed and I genuinely thought it was in the UK public domain, not having researched the date of Wodehouse's death. Since then, I avoid the subject.

I just wanted to point out to the OP that Amazon often charge for public domain ebooks.

I had similar concerns which is why I asked for clarification in the "Calibre Doesn't Remove DRM" thread. Apparently we can even discuss tools!

Feel that the OPs question is rather simple. Why pay for an otherwise free book?

To that person:

Amazon provides support for books purchased through the store and when you have a problem they can provide recourse. As you and others stated, you are supporting the entire supply chain with every purchase. From Amazon all the way to the editors, publisher and author.

A Public Domain book (along with everything Amazon sells) has been professionally edited and though there are plenty of examples of poorly formatted items available in the store, they typically include valuable goodies such as introductions to the material and other content which truly adds value to the reading experience.

Be aware that just because a book is offered freely doesn't make it 'free'. Sometimes publishers or Amazon will offer a limited time deal, or offer something free of cost and later decide to charge. Shop according to price and values. If you can buy a PS4 for $200 at Walmart or $300 at Best Buy you need to first think about price and second think about which merchant you wish to support with your dollars. But the only time something is truly free is if the author/publisher states it being so or otherwise mandated by law. It is the difference between free beer and free(dom). Microsoft offered Windows 10 for free. Different from Linux which is intrinsically free by terms of its license.

Laws regulate property, they don't regulate morality. I believe most people have a natural sense of right and wrong. I am not an advocate for piracy just as I don't say that people don't have justification to sometimes break the contracts that service providers such as Amazon require. Put yourself in the shoes of the content creators and ask if you are denying someone profit that they are reasonably entitled to and if you would resent people doing the same with your life's work. Morality is all about the Golden Rule. As for legality, ask someone familiar with the laws of your jurisdiction.

[Pizza_Cant_Read]

A question I have and I know it must have been discussed on MR before: If a publisher such as TOR releases a book without DRM, am I still forbidden by Amazon from moving it to another format? What about reading it on multiple (non Amazon) devices?