With millions of books available for reading worldwide, readers usually cannot wait to indulge in an interesting title. Most of them want to access their favorite books easily, some even for free, and that’s why they go for illegal book-sharing websites. But is it the right way to read your book? Well, not really! You should always access your favorite books in a legitimate and genuine manner.
Book Piracy is a Concern
According to a Guardian article, book piracy has become a concern for authors as their salaries drop due to such illegitimate activity. This has caused the average UK author to earn way less than their overall minimum wage. The most concerning matter here is despite being taken down after publishers/authors’ accusations, some of these websites emerge later with a brand-new domain name.
Due to online piracy, the publishing industry has lost hundreds of millions of dollars of sales. This has also caused a decline in the author’s royalty income, resulting in their overall loss. Authors have a lot to deal with, the latest conflict being copyright infringement by AI companies, for which they have written an open letter.
Besides that, piracy is nothing but stealing. You are accessing books illegitimately, and in return, the authors are losing the percentage of the deserving income they have worked really hard for.
Read Books from Libraries, Genuine Online Platforms or By Self-Purchasing
Borrowing books from the libraries is a better option. Why? Simply because these are genuine titles bought from legitimate sources and publishers. In fact, libraries are quite reasonable due to the fact that you can access multiple books through a particular subscription (like a library card).
If you are not much of a regular reader and just want to check out some interesting books occasionally, you can buy the book instead of taking a library subscription. Although some books could be a little high on the pocket, there are several titles available that are much more reasonable in cost. You can also buy used books that are available at a lesser cost than the new ones.
If not, you can always find online platforms like Amazon that offer many books for free. You can also explore free books from the author’s own website if they have made it accessible. Amazon’s Kindle has more than 58000 books available for readers of enticing genres that they can access free of cost. You can search for it and see whether you have any titles that match your reading preferences.
Benefits of Reading Non-Pirated Books
Coming to the benefits of non-pirated books, they are as follows:
Ethical practice – Reading books through libraries or after self-purchasing is considered morally ethical and fair. This steers you from unjust outcomes and helps to make decisions that have a positive impact, especially for publishers.
Book royalty – By purchasing books, you are contributing to the royalties that the authors receive from the publishers in exchange for publishing rights.
Sense of Satisfaction – It also gives you a sense of satisfaction that you aren’t involved in piracy, which is equivalent to stealing.
Navkiran Dhaliwal is a seasoned content writer with 10+ years of experience. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm or spending time with her dog, Rain.