Too. Bad..
Start Rant..
So here is the thing. The thing is not too long ago an author that I got to know through reading and enjoying her books, then linking with online was celebrating the publication of a brand spanking new e-book. She was very excited about the release of this novel as she had intellectualized and plotted it for a long time, and then took countless hours to pen the story. Within an hour of it’s release it turned up on a e-book piracy site free for the taking. Not only that, four more books that were released by other authors on the same day appeared there as well.
What. The. Hell??
I guess I’ve had my head in the sand or am just extremely uneducated regarding the lack of respect for an author’s work that is shown by individuals that patronize these sites because I had no idea. None. There are literally thousands of books free for the taking on the one site that I was shown alone.
Chris from Stumbling Over Chaos blog regularly hosts giveaways of e-books in support of authors. One of the contest rules at her blog is:
- If you win, please respect the author’s intellectual property and don’t make copies of the ebook for anyone else.
Well HELLO!! Intellectual. Property.
Authors pour their imaginative heart and soul into their books which take countless hours to write. Stealing their stories isn’t just theft, it is a violation, and those involved in piracy or patronizing these sites deserve nothing but contempt. We all know how bad the economy is and Publishing Houses will publish fewer and fewer books as demand decreases because people are pirating books! Further, the majority of authors don't make enough money through their writing to be able to put food on the table and meet the bills so they hold down full or part-time jobs in addition crafting their stories.
A quote from the December 24, 2009, column “E-Book Piracy: The Publishing Industry’s Next Epic Saga” from NETWORKWORLD states:
"We are now seeing large volumes of e-books being pirated on everything from file-sharing networks to Websites," says Ed McCoyd of the Association of American Publishers, a trade organization representing major U.S. book publishers. The year-to-year percentage growth of available e-book titles is unknown, McCoyd says. Other publishers, such as Hachette Book Group, say that e-book piracy has grown "exponentially" over the past year.”
© Tom Spring, PC World
Author J.K. Rowling does not allow her “Harry Potter” series to be released in e-book format because of fears of piracy. However, it doesn’t matter because hackers scan the books page for page, convert the file and offer the books as a download. Once the pirate site is established it is extremely hard to eradicate.
We all know this problem isn’t specific to books, the internet is riddled with torrents that offer music, movie, software and computer games free for the taking. Interestingly, the son of one of my colleagues is a gamer and was caught by the all seeing eye of Microsoft using pirated games on his X-Box system. Microsoft reached out within minutes, touched, and nuked his system. Too bad pirated books weren’t as easy to trace, thereby reaching out, touching and nuking the offender’s e-reader.
What can one person do to help our authors?
- Don’t patronize piracy websites.
- Be careful, make sure the site you are downloading your e-books from is legitimate.
- If you are a blogger and haven’t already grab the button below and post it on your site.
- Non-bloggers and bloggers alike can click on the button which will take you to an online petition that was established in 2006 to combat e-book piracy.
If we prolific readers don't support our Authors who will??
Opinions? Comments?
End Rant....
Ms.M. Is arriving on the Island tomorrow so be sure and stop by for a good time. ;)
Off to read my book, now, that I purchased...
Oh and Chris - I need a new refrigerator too. She just got a new one, I am very jealous. grumble, grumble..
