[RM Prioleau]

Sorry if this has already been posted.
I've been seeing a lot of book pirating threads pop up as of late, and thought I'd include this article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/book-pirate-reveals-just-easy-165620151.html

 

[lynkay]

It seems relatively easy to pirate e-books. In the last year alone, I know of three author friends whose works ended up in websites where you can upload your stories/fan fiction. After a stern warning, all stories were deleted from said sites, but it seems that people who buy e-books can reproduce the books without thinking twice. For one of the writers, the person even used the same book cover, only altered it a bit, and added her name instead of the author's one.

 

[Mathew Reuther]

Simple to do, and DRM is next to useless. It's not worth bothering with enabling because all it does is annoy customers, and doesn't really slow pirates down at all.

 

[Jerri Kay Lincoln]

My cousin used to say that he locked his car to keep the honest people honest.  That's why I always enable DRM.  I can't stop the pirates out there, but I can keep the honest people honest.

 

[Quiss]

I wonder how detrimental DRM will be with the growing number of people who use tablets and other hardware to read books. Like with music, they will want the option of moving their files from one viewer to another.

I've found some of my stuff on two pirate sites.

 

[Mathew Reuther]

My cousin used to say that he locked his car to keep the honest people honest. That's why I always enable DRM. I can't stop the pirates out there, but I can keep the honest people honest.

Yeah, because god forbid they switch ereaders. LOL.

 

[Rick Gualtieri]

I don't lose too much sleep over this.  What the worst that can happen?  A bunch of people who weren't going to pay for my books anyway, wind up reading them?  If they all hate them, then oh well.  If a few love them and tell their friends, well then I shall gladly accept the word of mouth as payment due.  

 

[Mathew Reuther]

I don't lose too much sleep over this. What the worst that can happen? A bunch of people who weren't going to pay for my books anyway, wind up reading them? If they all hate them, then oh well. If a few love them and tell their friends, well then I shall gladly accept the word of mouth as payment due.

My copyright notice includes the following:

All rights reserved. Except as lawfully permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this work blah, blah, blah…you know the deal. Look, if you're going to borrow/steal, please have the decency to buy a copy later. Oh, and be sure to tell your friends how awesome the story is so they buy a copy as well; this is how you get more of my words to read in the long run. Don't reproduce and redistribute this work, because it's not yours. But if you're a journalist or academic quoting for fair use go ahead; and be sure to get in touch. It's cool to read references to your own work.

 

[Soothesayer]

Like others I don't worry about it either. Cheapskates will be cheapskates, and the unemployed will *eventually* find a job again (or like us...become writers, ha!) and start purchasing again.

I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[David Alastair Hayden]

I don't pirate ebooks. Never have. Never will. Obviously.

That said, I can strip the DRM from an ebook in less than 5 minutes. I can run it as a batch job and do thousands. It's easy to do and learn how. Why? Because some people strip the DRM from Amazon .mobi files so they can make them into epubs and read them on other devices, etc. It is too technical for the average computer user but you don't have to be elite to pull it off either. But you just need one guy to do it then upload it somewhere where thousands of people can get to it.

DRM is pointless and irritating. It won't stop anyone from pirating.

I don't worry about piracy much. If I come across it, I'll send a takedown. But that's all you can do.

I won't upload txt or rtf versions to Smashwords, though. That's just asking for trouble.

 

[Quiss]

I don't lose too much sleep over this. What the worst that can happen? A bunch of people who weren't going to pay for my books anyway, wind up reading them? If they all hate them, then oh well. If a few love them and tell their friends, well then I shall gladly accept the word of mouth as payment due.

Anyone downloading stolen books will email his/her friends a copy, not make them buy their own.
Then they'll probably feel like they "stuck it to the man" by getting something for nothing.

 

[Mathew Reuther]

Anyone downloading stolen books will email his/her friends a copy, not make them buy their own.
Then they'll probably feel like they "stuck it to the man" by getting something for nothing.

I take it you don't actually know anyone who pirates.

Piracy drives discovery.

Now tell me . . . what's the hardest part about getting a writing career going?

 

[Becca Mills]

My copyright notice includes the following:

All rights reserved. Except as lawfully permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this work blah, blah, blah…you know the deal. Look, if you're going to borrow/steal, please have the decency to buy a copy later. Oh, and be sure to tell your friends how awesome the story is so they buy a copy as well; this is how you get more of my words to read in the long run. Don't reproduce and redistribute this work, because it's not yours. But if you're a journalist or academic quoting for fair use go ahead; and be sure to get in touch. It's cool to read references to your own work.

Love it!

 

[Anjasa]

My copyright notice includes the following:

All rights reserved. Except as lawfully permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this work blah, blah, blah…you know the deal. Look, if you're going to borrow/steal, please have the decency to buy a copy later. Oh, and be sure to tell your friends how awesome the story is so they buy a copy as well; this is how you get more of my words to read in the long run. Don't reproduce and redistribute this work, because it's not yours. But if you're a journalist or academic quoting for fair use go ahead; and be sure to get in touch. It's cool to read references to your own work.

Mine:

If you downloaded an illegal copy of this book and enjoyed it, please buy a legal copy. Either way you get to keep the ebook forever, but you'll be encouraging us to continue writing and producing high quality fiction for you.

 

[Mathew Reuther]

Mine:

If you downloaded an illegal copy of this book and enjoyed it, please buy a legal copy. Either way you get to keep the ebook forever, but you'll be encouraging us to continue writing and producing high quality fiction for you.

Exactly.

 

[Quiss]

I take it you don't actually know anyone who pirates.

Piracy drives discovery.

Whatever you're smoking, please share.
I do appreciate your enthusiastic sense of optimism. It's a breath of fresh air, if a little ganja-scented

 

[Mathew Reuther]

I downloaded Battlestar Galactica (reimagined) and bought the Blu-ray set, plus Blood and Chrome which just came out. I downloaded The Last Argument of Kings, bought it, the other two in the trilogy, and every other book Joe Abercrombie has written since.

People who don't have the money to buy your unknown novel might have the money to buy the novel they do know about because they read your first.

Select freebies drive discoverability, what makes you think that other free outlets don't?

(ETA: of the hundreds of Steam games I have, about twenty-five percent I downloaded pirated versions of to check them out. If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have spent the money on most of them.)

 

[Quiss]

Select freebies drive discoverability, what makes you think that other free outlets don't?

Perhaps, but you're speaking in absolutes. Like all, or even the majority, of pirates are upstanding citizen that are just a bit short of a buck ninety-nine.
It's a rosy view of the world, which I can appreciate.

Few regular folks wake up and say "I'm going to be a pirate!" the way you might say "I want to be a lion tamer!" (gratuitous Monty Python reference).

It's more like the friend who (and I quote) said "You'd like this book. It has no copyright on it. I'll send it to you." (as in some belief that no DRM means no copyright issues)

Maybe I'm cynical, but if people find a site full of freebies they're going to stuff their pockets, as evidenced by the volume of legitimate freebie offers that get downloaded. To think that you'll turn even a few of these specimen into loyal fans is pretty, but delusional.

 

[Mathew Reuther]

Perhaps, but you're speaking in absolutes. Like all, or even the majority, of pirates are upstanding citizen that are just a bit short of a buck ninety-nine.
It's a rosy view of the world, which I can appreciate.

It's the reality I know. I have two kids and one income. We have student loans, car payments, etc. I buy what I can and download the rest. I've bought a video game a year after I played it because I appreciated the game and that's when I could afford to pay for it. I've done that with movies, books, and more. And the things I enjoy go higher up the entertainment budget. So "Iron Man 3" is pretty much a guaranteed bluray buy, even though I pirated the first one.

Few regular folks wake up and say "I'm going to be a pirate!" the way you might say "I want to be a lion tamer!" (gratuitous Monty Python reference).

The vast majority of people I know who pirate whatever are my age or younger, and have grown up with it as an opinion. Tha majority are not like your example below, they know very well what they are doing, and they act accordingly when they find something they like.

It's more like the friend who (and I quote) said "You'd like this book. It has no copyright on it. I'll send it to you." (as in some belief that no DRM means no copyright issues)

So you take it, read it, and if you like it buy it, or other works by the same author. If you refuse it, that author gets zero sales from you.

Maybe I'm cynical, but if people find a site full of freebies they're going to stuff their pockets, as evidenced by the volume of legitimate freebie offers that get downloaded. To think that you'll turn even a few of these specimen into loyal fans is pretty, but delusional.

And yet speaking for myself and people I know personally, this does happen on a regular basis. Maybe it's a specific subculture, but it does happen, and even people in a subculture are worth having as fans.

In addition there's studies which have shown that people who pirate spend more money on average on the media type that they pirate than people who do not. They pirate mainly because they simply CAN'T invest more money in their hobby, at least not without knowing they're getting real value. If you buy 10 books a month already, you want to know that the 11th is by someone you enjoy. If you pirate a copy of a book (or select freebie, or permafree download it) you have a chance to decide if that author IS worth the money or not.

Seriously, if someone wants a copy of any of my work all they have to do is ask. That's not a joke. I will hand them a DRM free copy and tell them I hope they enjoy it, and to let friends know and leave a review.

You can't lose money nobody was going to spend on you in the first place. You can just make future sales.

 

[Quiss]

Maybe it's a specific subculture, but it does happen, and even people in a subculture are worth having as fans.

Perhaps

They pirate mainly because they simply CAN'T invest more money in their hobby, at least not without knowing they're getting real value.

That doesn't mean that we should condone theft. I can't afford a nicer car right now, either. That doesn't mean I go and steal one to see if I like it. Suck it up and learn to budget. Or get the books that authors are willing to give away - there are plenty. It's not like food or water. It's a luxury item that you're not entitled to just because you're a nice guy and a good dancer.

Seriously, if someone wants a copy of any of my work all they have to do is ask.

Ditto. However, they're not asking. They're stealing.