sickPoint the First: "Not everyone who illegally downloads your book would have bought it, so you shouldn't act like they would have."
True! That being said, I know enough people who have illegally downloaded books and then bought them, or have told me to my face (or via email) that they were planning to buy the book, only then got it for free, that I feel some consideration of the number of illegal copies is warranted. Just going off what I do know, I tend to assume about one person in ten represents a "lost sale." This accounts for new readers only, not people downloading copies of books they already own.
Point the Second: Downloading copies of books you already own is a morally gray area.
True. I completely understand and sympathize with people who download virtual copies of books they already own. Unfortunately, a) I don't own the e-book rights to my books right now, and thus can't say "sure, have a PDF with proof of purchase," and b) the methods for getting those downloads are non-legal. There's not a private literary speakeasy where you have to send in a photo of yourself with your legal physical copy before you get the download link. And so while I can understand the moral ambiguity of it all, I can't endorse the practice.
Point the Third: It's not piracy, it's copyright infringement.
Okay, true. For precision of language, I should call it copyright infringement. But the people who sometimes post intentionally inflammatory things on message boards aren't actually trolls, they're just being mean. In some cases, the prevailing language of the land is going to win out over precision. I apologize for any confusion.
Point the Fourth: "Does this mean you don't like me because I initially read your book in a sub-legal format?"
Did you buy the book? I mean, really, that's where my concern is here: In whether I can feed the cats. I first discovered the X-Men because my friend Lucy had an older brother who wasn't careful with his comics, and I didn't pay for those, either. As I said above, I can't condone illegal downloading, but once you've paid for the material, I lose all personal animosity.
Point the Fifth: Books and music aren't the same.
Most the research on illegal downloads has been in the music arena, and the numbers aren't the same. According to iTunes, the single song I have listened to the most often is the cover of "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Spork, which I have listened to 342 times. The single book I have read the most often is IT, by Stephen King, which I have read, if guessing generously, eighty times in the last twenty years. Many people don't re-read, or do so only sparingly. So saying that illegal downloads increase sales when you're only looking at music is like saying that breeding mice increases the elephant population.
Point the Sixth: Cory Doctorow does it.
Cory Doctorow is also recognized by my spellchecker, which doesn't recognize my name. He chose to distribute over the Internet, and it worked out awesomely for him. He's also doing Internet-savvy fiction, with a keen edge of interest for the online crowd. I write urban fantasies about women with silly names. We don't have the same target audience; it's mice and elephants again.
I'll come back and participate in the discussion more one on one later. Now? DayQuil and sleep.
November 6 2010, 09:35:28 UTC 6 years ago
I won't say I have never downloaded a torrent as that would be untrue. I rarely would touch movies unless they were older ones where no reasonable priced DVD was available.
TV shows have been my main temptation. Back in the days of videos and before the internet there was still 'illegal' sharing but it came in the form of taping from the telly and sending the shares to friends overseas who might not get the broadcast for ages if at all.
I do believe that torrents and the like have changed the way in which TV shows are broadcast. In the UK we now have BBC iplayer allowing legal downloads of shows and my subscription service also has various 'catch-ups' if a programme is missed. They too are launching a 'player' for timed downloads.
The scheduling too is quicker. We used to wait ages for Stateside shows - years sometimes and now, I guess in the knowledge that people will download them - they tend to air much more promptly sometimes just a few days after the States and 'Lost''s finale was done at the same time.
OK it means have those annoying breaks the US series take but still nice to be able to not be spoilt and be able to take part in current discussions.
So these days I rarely need to d/l unless say my box has managed to cut off the beginning or end of an episode or failed to record and there is no repeat scheduled. Or a series has started and I discover it 2-3 episodes in. I don't clutter up my harddrive with keepingthem, it is watch and delete.
As for ebooks, although not my favourite format (I like printed books) perhaps lowering the price will help or initiatives that allow for low-cost subsciption the way many audiobooks are now marketed.
I do also feel that authors speaking out in a reasonable way helps too. There will always be those people who feel entitled to something for nothing but I truly believe that most readers and especially readers of SF/F have over the years proved themselves supportive of what often are under-rated genres.
Unlike many mainstream authors there isn't the distance between author and reader, there are conventions and events where people run shoulders and take part in discussions.
Hope your cold is getting better and your cats are loving you up. (Mine always do when I am sick.)
November 11 2010, 17:20:45 UTC 6 years ago