Jan

eBook Pirates – The Reasons Why People Do It

It is easy to see how pirating copyright material in the digital age contrasts to how we people used to do it. You might remember mixed tapes, when cassette players first got the ability to record content, many people heralded it as the end of the music industry. People gave them to their high-school crushes and to their friends, and despite that fact they owned the music they were making a tape of, they were unlawfully distributing it. Next came VCR’s that had the ability to record television shows or movies you watched and enabled you to make your own private recordings. This spawned a tape trading underground that people mailed their tapes to each other or just loaned them out to friends, again it was harmless, but recording television shows was against the law at the time. Fast forward to the digital age when Kazaa and Napster hit the scene and piracy exploded, as it was easier then ever before for non-tech-savvy users to download full albums. Expanding on the peer to peer file sharing concept, Bittorrent piracy sites now flourish and pick up where Napster left off. Entire generations of users grow up getting their music, movies, and books for free and feel no moral qualms about what they do.

Many people initially purchase an e-reader because of the low entry level price points for the technology. It makes perfect sense if you are a voracious reader to buy a digital book reader for under $100 and then purchase ebooks that cost less then their tangible counterparts. A new hardcover costs anywhere between $20 to $40 and an ebook normally retails for $9.99. If you love to read, it makes sense to give your overflowing bookshelves a break and start amassing a digital library. The problem is a growing number of people choose to pirate the books instead of paying for them.

From various interviews and research we have conducted over the years, there are three main reasons why people pirate. The first reason is the type of person that grows up pirating content and has absolutely no moral qualms about doing so. The second is people who have a lack of a stable income or fixed income and still wants to satiate their literary thirst. Third, in the eBook realms people tend to pirate books they cannot get locally due to geographical restrictions or the lack of an official copy (such as Harry Potter).

Let’s take a look in greater detail at the three main types of people who pirate ebooks and try to understand why they do it. It is only by understanding the reasons behind the actions can people tailor the industry and try to get them to become paying customers. After all, DRM on ebooks alienates the users who actually paid the money for them and might want to load them on other devices. In addition, all current forms of DRM have been circumvented and you only have to Google any type to find easy to use tools to break it.

The current generation of young adults and adults who grew up with the internet in full swing have it easy. You only have to Google any book you want to find a pirated copy on file sharing websites or via Torrents. Movies, Games, Music, and many more are but a few clicks away and presented in super high quality. Many authors find themselves in the predicament that more people are pirating their books than they are actually buying them. This plays into the moral ambiguity angle we mentioned before, with people commonly aged 10 to 25, see no problem with file sharing because they have always done it. It is free and online and they aren’t really hurting anyone and getting content easier than paying for it. This is the type of situation that is hard for the industry to solve because how do you make money if people are getting your content for free?

The second reason for piracy and the situation most people can empathize with is the lack of income or a fixed income. Many pensioners and people who faced life changing disabilities are downloading and pirating ebooks. They simply are in a position where their monthly income is not enough to sustain their entertainment needs, which become more expensive every year. After bills, food, and expenses, there is not enough money left over to entertain yourself. It is easy to feel sympathy towards this demographic of people, but in effect it hurts the entire industry.

Many people find themselves in a unique position that the books they want to buy are simply not available! Most have told us that they would LOVE to throw money at ANY company that offered the books in their country that they want to buy. The Harry Potter series is the most pirated book of all time and it is mainly because they have never been officially released in digital format. If you look at the average pirated version, it is not some scanned copy that is hard to read but very slick and professional book editing to make it seem like the real deal. Geo-graphic restrictions by booksellers is also one of the largest reasons most people cite for having to pirate the book. Many publishing companies have different agreements in different countries and in some cases different units all together. You only have to look at the huge selection in the Amazon.com Kindle Store and visit the same store in Canada, UK, and Australia and the selection dramatically dwindles. Publishers and Book Sellers simply don’t have the rights to distribute books in different countries which stifles the growth of ebooks in general.

So how can the industry combat the ebook piracy issues? It is a daunting task and a huge mountain to climb in order to solve the problem. The most hurt are indie and first time writers who see a lack of revenue come in and fail to garner book deals because sales numbers are everything. They also hurt the publishing companies themselves, the big six are fairly immune to this problem but the smaller and mid-range companies are particularly vulnerable. We at Good e-Reader have NEVER endorsed piracy but we have open forums and sometimes things get uploaded that should not, but we are always diligent in policing it. I would say we are more vigilant than Megaupload and other file sharing sites that simply turn a blind eye to the entire problem.

There are two big ways the industry can adapt in order to curb the piracy problem and start to dwindle down on the number of people contributing to the problem. Stand alone books in the form of applications for Android and iOS is a solid start and advertising in books.

The Apple iOS ecosystem is the most lucrative way for authors and publishers to submit their content and maximize their returns. Most books that are considered enhanced are standalone applications that you have to buy via the iTunes store. Some of these books have interactive content, audio, video and more. A fair portion of them are aimed at kids because they are great learning tools and don’t cost a ton of money. These are not EPUB books per say, but instead are fully fledged applications that are notoriously hard to pirate. It is quite easy to pirate a book that is in PDF, ePub or MOBI format but pirating an iOS app? Not so much. Now that Apple has released new tools for authors to make their own books in a proprietary Apple format exclusive for iBooks, this is a step in the right direction. You can either make a book as an app or make a book available in a format that no other device can read.

I have debated the semantics of this issue before, but advertising in ebooks is a viable way for the industry to mature and actually make money on people who pirate your books. Companies could tremendously benefit by offering free versions of their books but having internet banners or ads embedded in them. Amazon released the Kindle Special Offers Edition line of devices that show an advert on your screensaver and homescreen but never in a book. This subsidizes the cost of the hardware to serve you relevant campaigns from their partners. Companies could run Google Ads since almost every PC, eReader and Tablet on the market right now has WIFI connections and could make money from people pirating them. The industry also should develop metric tracking software embedded right into the book that would provide valuable metrics so they could keep track of who is reading their books and in-turn sell that information to advertisers.

Piracy will never go away and the easier it becomes to do the more people will do it. If there is a new form of encryption or security people will break it in short order and offer easy to use tools for people to download. The industry in order to combat this problem should not go after the pensioner who likes to read or the 13 year old reading a James Patterson book, but should incorporate new technologies to make piracy profitable.

I really think that enhanced ebooks and ebooks as apps is the way the industry is gravitating towards right now. You only have to look at the Apple Newsstand and companies like Zinio. All of their newspapers and magazines are basically enhanced ebooks with cool interfaces that are tailored towards a touchscreen device. You simply could never get the same effect in a PDF document and most people would gladly take out a Wired Digital Subscription for a low cost and get touchscreen optimized features then try and find a pirated version of it somewhere. Same goes with eBooks that are sold and marketed as enhanced books. You simply cannot make an EPUB or a pirated book file out of a proprietary copy that has rich media features that could not be rendered on a e-ink based device like the Kindle.

Companies have been trying to solve the built in book advertising solution for a number of years and even Amazon has filed several patents on technology that they are trying to develop. I feel this endeavor would cost too much money and people aren’t interested in investing a ton of money in research and development without a firm notion if the premise will take off and people would be willing to license it.

Why do you think people pirate books? This is a fairly complex issue and would love to hear what you have to say about it.

Michael Kozlowski (1808 Posts)

Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about electronic readers and technology for the last four years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the Huffington Post, CNET and more. Michael frequently travels to international events such as IFA, Computex, CES, Book Expo and a myriad of others. If you have any questions about any of his articles, please send Michael Kozlowski an email to michael@goodereader.com

Categories : Commentary, E-Book News

Doruk Denkel
I think rules and regulations of social and economic conduct can find a mainstream application where a middle class exists; or if exists, it depends on its size within the overall population. It can be observed frequently in any given community’s history that ‘virtue’ is a middle class demand. The recently inter-connected world of the 21st century lacks such middle class. Opportunism will always push virtue away for the most of the world’s population. Because there won’t be a personal consequence of opportunism and there won’t be a personal reward of virtue, material or otherwise.
Rashkae
Ooookay, so the #1 reason people pirate is lack of availabilty (and I lump only available wrapped in DRM ‘rental’ in this catagory for the tech savvy.), and your solution is too…… reduce the book to an app that is only available on the limited platforms you code for,….. Yeah, great thinking there.
http://goodereader.com/blog/ Good E-Reader
You make a valid point but i think its the sense of entitlement most people have, they think they are owed something. I see this train of thought in most young people these days who feel that if its out there they can just take it with no repercussions.
Pingback: What motivate an eBook Pirate? « eBook Rumors
Rwm
I can only speak for myself, but the reason I would consider piracy is the lack of availability. I live in South Africa and I have a kobo ereader. For me to get my favourite autors is almost impossible! Kobo cannot sell them to me due to “geographical restrictions”, thus I have to look for other means. Finally this year there are now some local internet stores that sell e-books, but there are problems: 1) the supply is limited, but luckally growing slowly. 2) The prices are way more expensive than in the USA (the latest Stephen King cost converted 35 USD). But this is a minor problem (does feels unfar). 2) the second problem: DRM. I do most of my stuff on my work computer, but I do not have admin rights, therefore I cannot install Adobe digital editions. Therefore to get my ebooks on my ereader I have to buy a computer! OR
I use google and get it in a instant…
Rebecca
I find it interesting
that two of the three reasons that people pirate books are addressed by the
ability for public libraries to offer this format. Right now only two of the
big six publishers allow their newest titles to be released in ebook format to libraries,
and two others allow their older titles to be released but not new titles (the
most in demand). Libraries are paying a premium for those titles they can get
as ebooks, close to $30 for a Random House new release, and have accepted
limits in lending such as only 26 check outs for each purchased Harper Collins
book, and one person having it checked out at a time.
If Publishers would
allow libraries to buy more of their ebooks people who are pirating because
they cannot afford them or do not have them readily available would have a legitimate
source for them.
MarylandBill
Your rebuttal is a non-sequitor. You rightly pointed out that lack of access is a major incentive to piracy, and then your solution is to limit access even more. Then when this is pointed out, you starting talking about the sense of entitlement that most people have?
Lets look at the facts, as you already pointed out, pretty much any book you have ever heard of is available as a pirated ebook somewhere. Your suggestion of releasing a book as an app only works if that is the only format the book is available in (i.e., print a copy and wait for it to be scanned and OCR’d, if it is a popular author, it might be available on the net before some of the book stores on the west coast are open). Even then, I think you dramatically over estimate the difficulty of piracy.
Lets look at your three groups again. The first group just pirates; it seems the only real approach to ending the piracy of this group is a cultural shift. The second group pirates because they can’t afford ebooks. The third group pirates because books are not available.
First, it is ridiculous that some major books are not available as ebooks. At this point, every book published should have an ebook version, and it should be available in every ebook store (If you only make it available at Amazon, or through iTunes, you have just given people a reason to pirate).
Second, if books are too expensive (and frankly many are), then perhaps the publishing industry needs to realize that they can only demand high prices for ebooks if they are willing to accept high rates of piracy. If the average price of an ebook was $4 instead of $10, you have probably greatly expanded the people who can afford to buy the books.
Pingback: eBook Pirates – The Reasons Why People do It – Good E-Reader (blog) - AmazonLaureate: eBook & Author Reviews - amazonlaureate.com
Pingback: Illegale eBook-Downloads – 5 Gründe, warum Menschen zu eBook-Piraten werden | eBook-Fieber
nitpicker
1. “a growing number of people choose to pirate the books instead of paying for them”
What does it mean? As the number of people who read ebooks grows, the number of people who ‘pirate’ ebooks must grow as well.
2. what does ‘pirate’ mean?
the word is just inadequate, I wish there was something better. Even ‘stealing’ doesn’t apply well.
3. “how can the industry combat the ebook piracy?”
ebook piracy will never go away. Personally, I tend to favor a flatrate.
4. “advertising in ebooks”
over my dead body! I won’t touch an ebook with ads. I’ve tried some, and for me, they just suck.
5. “more people are pirating their books then they are actually buying them”
as a matter of fact, over the years, the majority of readers of any book won’t have paid for it (directly). Think e.g. public libraries (and taxes).
6. “proprietary … format”
there is a segment of the population that won’t mind the proprietary format.
For me, it is anathema: I want to be able to access my data from any device I choose. That means I refuse to be bound to a firm or its technology.
7. a recurring result from (serious) surveys is that people who ‘pirate’ a lot also spend more than average.
8. an often forgotten point is that people have only so much money and time to dedicate to ‘content’. There are choices to be made between books, magazines, web sites, tv, online video, DVD and Blueray, movies, music CDs and MP3, online music, concerts, video games, etc…
Montealan
How about the fact that many ebooks are much more expensive than their pbook counterpart. I have found remaindered pbooks to be 75% cheaper than the ebook version. Not a reason to steal, but the feeling is that the publishers are stealing from their customers.
Scarfax
It’s availability, price and DRM more than anything else. If a $15 hardback is offered as a $8 paperback while offered at a $6 or less DRM-free ebook (and downloadable in multiple formats at that, as is done at http://www.Baen.com) then there would not be so much the of the piracy issue for everyone to worry about. But a majority of the publishers (and authors) just aren’t getting that through their heads yet. But they will, eventually.
Anonymous
Why doesn’t the word ‘stealing’ apply to ebook pirating. As an author who works extremely hard to write books, I think stealing is the correct word. I need to make a living like the next person and I work ten-hour days to produce my three books a year. I’m not complaining about that. I love what I do. But I hate to see my hard work stolen.
The word ‘pirating’ gives it too much glamour. It’s blatant ‘stealing’.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_34CEEYVLBCUUN2YHXSOWCXPCPE Lisa K
Sod off Anna. Does the library “steal” your work as well? Whats the diff if I wander down there and borrow your book FOR FREE or if I load up a torrent site and download it FOR FREE? The genie is out of the bottle. Within 10 years all music, books, and movies will be free, because companies that charge for them will be out of business. Out with the old, in with the new business models that don’t depend on us paying for content. Radio is free, yet they still make money. See?
Anonymous
No, a library doesn’t steal an author’s work. They buy the book, and the more expensive hardback edition, too. And in some countries, Australia included, they pay compensation to authors for multiple borrowings at so much per book borrowed, not a huge amount each time, but it seems fair. I’m very fond of libraries, happy that my town rates and taxes go to support them. They do a lot of good in many ways.
Do you not get paid for the work you do? If not, how do you earn a living?
And how do you expect me to earn a living if you feel people should steal the product of my hard work?
http://goodereader.com/blog/ Good E-Reader
Remember not all libraries offer books in digital formats or do business with Overdrive. Most of small town Canada, USA and other countries simply don’t have the resources to buy ebooks ontop of regular editions.
Anonymous
There are no payments in Australia (or I think the UK) for the ebook editions borrowed from libraries, only for the paper book editions. It’s a central payment down under by the national government for borrowings above 50 per book per year, so it doesn’t even cut in until it hits those figures.
With ebooks, I only get paid for the books I sell, hence my concern about my ebooks being stolen.
I’m genuinely puzzled as to why people think it’s right to steal books, when most of these people wouldn’t dream of shoplifting or pinching a car. That’s why I’ve joined in this discussion. I like to understand the world I write about.
I wonder if they maybe think all writers are rich and won’t miss a few hundred sales if people steal our ebook editions. Perhaps you could tell me if I’m guessing correctly?
Don’t I wish I were rich! JK Rowlings and Stephen King are rich, as are just a few top bestsellers.
Me, I earn a normal living by working very hard indeed – and I’m well past retirement age. Most writers don’t even earn a living. It’s a very poorly paid profession, yet the myth lingers that we’re all rich
Oh, well, back to work I go. Thank you for answering.
Beryll Snyder
Sorry, but stealing is taking away something from you. As the pirat copies the ebook, nothing is actually taken away – except possibly expected income.
Many copies are just downloaded and never used/read.
The fact that someone works hard does not entitle him/her to income.
Historically the majority of authors did not make an income from books …
Bernie Dowling
“The most hurt are indie and first time writers who see a lack of revenue come in and fail to garner book deals because sales numbers are everything. They also hurt the publishing companies themselves, the big six are fairly immune to this problem but the smaller and mid-range companies are particularly vulnerable.” This series of statements seems contentious. As a small publisher, the least of my worries is pirating. I think it is the problem of the Big Six who want the rest of us to share their pain.
Anonymous
You’re fooling yourself if you think helping yourself to a copy of an item that is usually sold for money isn’t stealing – whether it’s read or not.
Of course people who work for money and get money for what they produce are entitled to income. How else do people buy food and pay their bills?
Historically the majority of literary authors might not have made income from books, but that still doesn’t entitle people to steal their work. Also, I’m not a literary author. I write for money.
It’s stealing to take something that is for sale and not pay for it. No doubt about it.
What I’m finding interesting here is that people are in denial that taking something without paying for it isn’t stealing. Very interesting.
Mumtomy2princesses
Wow, how wrong is this argument. Do you have a job? Do you get paid for your hours of work? Well authors are no different. We work for thousands of hours honing the book before it is ever released.
Pirating books is no different to expecting people for work for nothing. No one is entitled to something for free. And yes, that includes readers.
Mumtomy2princesses
So because you can’t find a car, you would steal one? That is the same argument.
Kyliegriffin71
Beryll, by your definition, a friend could walk into a grocery store and walk out with a basket full of fruit and vege, you could take some of it, even though you may or may not eat them and the fact that the farmer worked hard to grow them doesn’t mean you have to pay? Are you kidding?
In any court of law that’s stealing followed by receiving stolen goods.
Annoyed
You sod off, Lisa, you bloody theif!
Kerri Williams
I’m with you Anna. Stealing is an appropriate and accurate description of what is happening here. I work hard betwen my day job and my writing and I hate the thought that people would steal my work because it’s available. Even if that particular person isn’t the one doing the copying, I still believe it’s stealing my income from me and my family.
Kerri Williams
Anna is correct in this and even with the libraries going digital, they still pay for this too.
Kyliegriffin71
Then you’d be justified in not choosing the e-book, and buying the paperback, or not buy it at all. Send a message to publishers by choosing the best worth for your buck.
Rwm
I agree with you that pirating is in fact stealing, but does the same argument not apply to publishers who “sell” their ebooks with DRM? They sell you an ebook, but in fact they let you “rent” an ebook.
Restrictions on your ebook due to DRM, which in some cases only allow you to download a book 3 times, which in my case after two crashed laptops and one broken ereader I could not download the book that I had purched…in this case who is stealing from who?
Secondly I am not able to read my legally purched books on playbook due to DRM.
Thirdly most of the ebook versions are not avavailable in the country I live due to geographical restrictions.
I really want the autors to get my money, but it seems that publishers are making that extremely difficult. So far I have bought all my books (paper and ebook), but everyday I am more tempted to go piracy, so that I can read the books I want on all my devises as many time I want. So in short in your words I am contemplating to be a thief, not because I do not want to pay, but because I am not allowed to buy the books I want!
Natasha D
I agree entirely Anna. How would the ‘book thieves’ like it if we writers were to ferret around on the internet as they do and take their wages from them? They would surely squeal and carry on at their ‘hard earned’ wages being stolen!
Guest1
I’m in Australia. Almost nothing I want is available for
me. I don’t pirate books, but I can’t feel sorry for publishers who lose money
because they REFUSE to lift geographical restrictions. If they were so short-sighted
they couldn’t foresee this was going to be a problem for them, well too bad.
Fix it, and maybe the
millions of Australians down here might actually be able to give you the money
we’ve been trying to spend on ebooks for years.
http://calebwoodbridge.blogspot.com Caleb Woodbridge
The solution to ebook piracy isn’t to cripple them with overly restrictive DRM (though there’s a place for reasonable copy protection), but firstly to make ebooks available legitimately at reasonable prices, and secondly to build reader loyalty.
Firstly, give people a legitimate and reasonably priced way of buying ebooks, lending ebooks, moving ebooks from one ereader to another, and so on, and the vast majority of readers won’t pirate ebooks.
Secondly, technological restrictions can always be circumnavigated; it’s better in
the long run to work at changing people’s attitudes, to encourage them
to value the work of authors and publishers. We need to get the message across that paying for ebooks is the way to support writers and publishers so they can continue to produce high-quality material.
Because we need to show people that good quality content is worth paying for, I would be against free, advert-based editions, which would devalue and cheapen ebooks. Also, I’d find adverts offputting, tacky and annoying while reading.
Pingback: Top News of the Week « appazoogle
Cornelia Amiri
I just wanted to add as many people here have explained it’s more than a moral issue it’s illegal. Everyone over the age of 6 knows stealing is wrong, There are so many EBooks under 9.99 that the argument that the books are too expensive doesn’t make sense. If the book you want is too expensive, borrow it from a library or borrow the print copy from a friend or even get a print copy from a site like book crossing or here’s an idea get a book that’s 99 cents or 3.99 or something you can afford that’ is the same genre and type of read as the book you want – especially if the cheaper one has even better reviews. Those are some of the many solutions to that issue – non of those solutions are illegal. The sites that have these free downloads of copyrighted material, the pirate sites are not trying to provide free books to benefit poor people like some type of charity. Keep in mind how poor most writers are and how much money these sites are taking away from them. Money they worked for, money that is rightfully theirs. Also these pirates are not in this to provide books to people who live in areas where it’s hard to get certain books. – again like come type of Charity – they are operating illegal business for the soul purpose of getting money through legal means. They make alot of money off the add spaces they sell on these sites. They are criminals. Thieves working on a large scale, internationally, They do it for money not to help readers. They are participating in large scale thievery – plain and simple. It’s always a good idea to not do business with criminals. Always.
The Real Price
Want some real figures? Last month I made $3 dollars off the 5 e-books i have out. The other day, I found just one of my books on a pirate site and it had been downloaded over 2000 times. Just ONE. By the law of averages, if each of my books was downloaded that many times, that’s 100,000 copies… I have literally lost hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars. We’re a one income family, a lot of months we find it hard to pay the bills while I get a measly $5 to $10 a month. Meanwhile, people keep downloading my books for free and I wonder what the hell is even the point? I love writing, I love sharing my stories, but I also need to live and in this day and age, its harder than ever for an emerging author to do that. I understand that many people don’t even really compute that what they’re doing is illegal. So maybe we need to find some way to better educate people on exactly what the results of their free downloading is.
Erin
Was trying to reply to Lisa, but she seems to have gone.
I agree 100% with you, Anna.
I’d like to know, Lisa, how you think there will be music, etc, in ten years if all the companies that charge for them will be out of business? By not paying, there will also be no bands, no musicians, no actors and no authors prepared to supply you with goods simply out of vanity or the goodness of their hearts. There will also be no online vendors providing the music, because it does cost to host a site and keep it updated. Then, you may find the pirateers actually charging for what they have stolen (in fact, some already do) – and you’d be only to happy to pay their membership ‘fee’ out of some grossly misguided attitude that its ok to do that.

Seriously, what kind of idiot are you? Obviously the kind who has absolutely no idea how ‘business’ works. I have been in business over 25 years and I’d like VERY much to know what this new ‘business model’ is you speak of, which doesn’t rely on actual earnings?

It’s an interesting attitude consumers in most markets seem to have adopted. Apparently all consumers should be allowed to buy things not only wholesale, but even cheaper than the manufacturer makes it. Why? Just ‘because’, thats why. Business are bastards, I hear you scream! How dare they attempt to make a profit at our expense? Like, der, its the profits that pay rents, staff wages, taxes, and the goods themselves. Actual ‘profit’ only occurs (if you’re lucky) when all of these expenses are taken out of money earned. Simply put, no profits – no jobs! Then, those same people who want everything for nothing are the first to kick and scream when there are no jobs paying those huge wages we all demand.

With you, and others like you, it’s all ‘manna from heaven’. (manna means ‘bread’, btw)

Radios are also, not free as such. They rely upon advertising to pay for the royalties and licencing to artists. Perhaps if you actually did some research, and stop taking everything for granted, Lisa, you might realise a few things. However, with your obvious state of ignorant bliss, I’m sure you’ll carry on that way – perhaps until one day your kids say ‘hey, mum, some one has taken my original music and put it on a pirate site….’ We can only hope.
Guest
I understand your point to a degree, but am somewhat dismayed at how most people simply assume that every cent goes to publishers, or heaven forbid, direct to the author. Whether digital or paper, there are many costs invloved in the production of a book – just like any other product out there. You’d honestly be surprised at just how little the actual author makes.
Besides the author, the publisher has to invest in a decent editor, a cover artist ( and probably cost for the images on the cover as well, models have to make money too), then you have a line editor, possibly a different galley editor, promotions department (depending on how big the company is), then with paperbacks you’d have print costs, distribution costs, freight, advertising….am I boring everyone yet? Come on, people, anyone who has worked a day in their life knows that nothing is produced simply out of thin air. Yes, I agree, that most things should be at a reasonable cost and thats where retail competition should come into play and consumer choice - not stealing.
Personally, I have found most digital books to be far cheaper than the paper kind, I guess it just depends. But there are many costs still involved in ebook making. As well as the general production costs, even though they are not transported, you need a team to handle the different formats required by outlets, online promotions and lets not forget the significant chunk taken by the online vendors selling the books. Again, the author sees very little.
And, btw, thanks to anyone out there who does buy the remaindered books and those on sale…cause what many of you may not know, is that often the cost of these returns are taken out of the poor authors pocket.
http://goodereader.com/blog/ Good E-Reader
Fine points! There is a large pipeline involved when you are outsourcing a ton of your work, most indie authors perfer to do things themselves and on a shoe string budget and do direct-to-digital-publishing efforts.
Margaret Tanner
Hi Anna,
As an author myself and an honest person, I absolutely agree with everything you wrote. People who download books without paying for them are thieves, pure and simple. I am sorry if people can’t afford to buy the books, but I can’t afford to give them away. If these people can’t afford to buy a car is it ok for them to go out and steal one?
Paula
So author Shiloh Walker has a brilliant blog post on stealing books off the internet (I agree, Anna, ‘pirate’ romanticises it – they are stinking THIEVES!). Her article link is here http://www.shilohwalker.com/website/?page_id=520
Rwm
Is OK from the shop to collect you car, you paid for, after you took three trips with? I agree that piracy/stealing is WRONG, but I would like the discussion also focus on the DRM, which in my view is also wrong. Because a lot of people are doing the wrong thing, I must may for it?
barb
I don’t care why people pirate books, its wrong and they shouldn’t be doing it
barb
You have another option. Buy the book from amazon and have it mailed to you.
Lakoch
All the arguments about the morality of pirating, or correctly, ‘stealing’ is actually irrelevant. Unfortunately, the reality is that for a huge proportion of people, “if the law CAN’T stop it, I guess I can do it” This goes to shoplifting and any other petty theft. Thus, I utterly agree with Michael Kozlowski’s argument that instead of appealing to morality or trying more sophisticated firewalls ( they simply won’t work, any more than expecting an unguarded pile of cash to remain untouched), we must find a way to monetize the theft ie. make money even if the book is stolen. However, I do fully support the move to rename the act as STEALING and not piracy as that can have a psychological effect on the thieves (or at least 60 -70% of them)
Ruralrootone
This is so true. It’s about pricing and usability. Most e-reader owners are honest (many are of the older generation); they will not invest the time and trouble to obtain a pirated copy of a book if the pricing makes sense and if all books are loanable (so they can’t be read while they are on someone else’s e-reader). I persuaded my 80-year-old mother to buy an e-reader. She was all excited and started shopping for books on Amazon, only to be struck by how much cheaper the paperback copies would be. She felt it was a rip-off and she was right. It IS a rip-off.
Publishers have to start publishing and pricing for e-readers. If they do, they won’t have to remainder all those unsold paperbacks and ridiculously low prices. It’s the existence of remaindered books that is the injustice, to both authors and e-reader users. It just feels hugely unscrupulous.
As for imbedding advertisements in individual e-books, why not offer the alternative of an ad-free e-book for a higher price? Then you can offer cheap (but ad-imbedded e-books) to the impoverished and a clean e-book to the people with more money to spend.
I’m telling you: most readers prefer to pay for their books, but for a reasonable price. You cannot have a much lower price for a hardcover version taunting the shopper with what an idiot he was for going with e-books. The psychology of the situation really matters, as does the fact that the publisher looks rapacious and immoral for selling e-books at a higher price than hard copies.
John
In Sweden we can borrow books for free from library website. Library pays $1.5 to the publisher ( and indirectly to author) and $1.5 to a company running the system. Not all publishers want this, but often the most popular books in Swedish can be borrowed. Think this system is great.
Most fiction books would fitt in this system. Problem is what to do with student and scientific litterature where books cost $50-$4000. I kind of like the idea of open access litteratur where for example a University or scholarship pay a professor up front to write a book.
Yuri Chan
I won’t mind paying for my ebooks. Especially from authors that I like and who’s books I know won’t disappoint.
But guess what? My country’s currency is just not accepted by paypal.
So for me, it’s not whether I download a book for free or I pay for it. it’s either I get a pirated copy or nothing at all!
opinion18329
Do we care about E book piracy if :
The author is dead. No
The author is rich or has already made a ton of cash off said book . No
The author just signed $$$ deal for movie/ tv. No
The author is one of our favorites and we like their work. Yes
The author a regular person trying to earn a buck. Yes
All of the above is irrelevant if the price is right, because most people dont want to troll the internet looking for books to ‘pirate’
The price of most e books should be $5. or less. Otherwise we’ll buy used, get it elsewhere free, or forget about it altogether. No royalties on that.
The market is only going to bear so much. Whether you call it stealing or piracy who cares, because ultimately we can just,
‘ forget about it altogether ‘ . With all the competition from TV, Cable, Internet, movies ………..its good that people still read.
Im not buying e books for $9.99.
Allanah
I know I am commenting on an old column, but you missed another reason for piracy. Those of us who re-read old favourite books, have shelves groaning under their weight, and want them in digital format to take on holiday etc. I don’t want to pay for the digital version of a book I own in paper.
Andrej
Anna I understand your frustrations with pirated eBooks
but the problem is that current system is not fair to most readers either,
because of all the restrictions we don’t really own eBooks we bought and
despite that we have to pay for them more than for paperbacks. There are many
reasons people prefer eBooks to paperbacks (ecology, delivery times,
geographical restrictions (there really isn’t any place in this age and time
for such restrictions), convenient storage…).
So what I would suggest is that publishers set up
online libraries from where you could “borrow” book for limited time
(7, 14 days or so) against paying small fee and after that time expired the
book would be erased from your possession. That would be in effect similar to
the system you mentioned in the post above.
The Real Price mentioned in post above that while he earned 3$ in month his book has
been pirated at least 2000 times. The fact is that most (probably all of them)
of those pirates would not buy his book even if eBook piracy didn’t exist. But
they just might borrow it if it would cost them 10 or 20 cents.

eBook Pirates – The Reasons Why People Do It

Sign up for Weekly News from Good e-Reader

Like Goodereader

News Section

E-Reader Reviews

Tablet PC Reviews

Authors

Partners

Trade Show Coverage