ebooks are of great interest for me- I own several thousand printed books, and many of them are not easily accessible. Being able to reread books, and get new ones without straining my walls any further is a necessary option.

I wanted to also give you a piece of information I learned recently; there is a new document scanner which makes it incredibly fast for books to get into computerized format. http://cli.gs/QyWuQz

With a tool like this, publishers have a means of getting non computerized material onto a computer to format into an ebook quickly and easily. It is not a tool for pirates. I do not imagine it will be a cheap machine, but it is a way publishers can make a previously labor intensive activity much more feasible.

I think it also means that the books Google scanned – in a manner which is perilously close to piracy as well- need not be the only way for people to get copyrighted ebooks, if publishers can easily have their own version to offer with the consent of the writer.

Therefore endless gyrations and arguments regarding what you personally morally feel is OK are pointless.

Thanks for this very cogent and candid statement. I think it’s worth airing on the home page of our website blog, so look for it presently.
RC

I attempt to only buy ebooks without DRM and not for a specific platform, because I think that the trend to make specific ebook readers which use a propitiatory format is both foolish and dangerous. It is foolish in the sense that Jay referred to above because some people have an urge to prove encryption is breakable- and any encryption is a challenge. This encourages people to take the challenge. It is also foolish because I know writers who have had ebooks made of their titles, and the company has gone out of business- and the ebooks are not available, but their ebook rights are up in the air. The people who bought those ebooks have no support for any problems they have reading them on that reader.

It is dangerous because it allows the owners of the proprietary format to use that as a tool to gain power- as is seen in the recent disturbing antics with Amazon.com. It allows for a disturbing amount of censorship, if you have the only reader that can read certain books, and you can remove books people have bought. The fact that Apple and Amazon are flexing their ebook ‘muscles’ is more than obnoxious. It seems to me that it can ever so easily become a monopoly on distribution. It is also a flagrant disregard of the rights of people and publishers to set their own prices.

Now to the ambivalent portion. I have downloaded books that I did not pay for. Some of these came from Baen and Tor, and Cory Doctorow, and various sites that occasionally put up free ebooks. I read Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother as a free ebook, and decided that I wanted to have it in hardcover, when I usually wait for paperback, and that I wanted to send a copy to a friend as a hardcover too.

However, I have also downloaded books that were not from sites giving them out legally. My gray position is that I download books I already own – and want to be able to read in ebook form – on a net book currently – for portability. This seems the equivalent of ripping a CD to an Mp3 file and playing it on my computer. I realize that publishers would rather I buy books in every different format to use. But I did buy that book originally, doing my part in giving money to the writer and paying the publisher for their services. Ethically, I think this is gray.

What is not gray is when I have downloaded a book I did not purchase, and read it. I don’t do this a lot, but I have done it. I will read a book by an author I am not familiar with, to find out if I like their writing.

There are several people whose books I read in pirated ebook form for the first time and then went out and purchased print copies of every one of their books I could find. This includes buying OP copies from used book dealers- which is also a practice that does not give money to publishers or writers a second time.

There are writers whose books I stopped reading after a few pages, and deleted the books, because I knew I was not interested. While an act of piracy, because I downloaded the book, this is no different in results than browsing the shelves of a print book store and then not buying the book because it did not interest me. Now that more print book buying is done over the Internet, it is often impossible to browse a book before the commitment to buy it. The page or two sometimes available online at sites like Amazon is not adequate, unless the book is really awful- and even then I can not page to the center and see if the writing has improved or a plot has appeared. If publishers would post a chapter or selections from every book on their entire list on their website, I would haunt the sites. It also might sell a great many more mid list books, just because people could become aware of them, which would benefit everyone. Until then, browsing writers’ works in a download to find people I have never read before is sometimes only possible in a pirate download.

I have also downloaded a book which has still technically been in copyright, because there was no available copy to buy, as the book had gone out of print. Again, this is something that happens to many many mid list books, and having ebook copies available to buy- for a reasonable price (another issue entirely) might bring many more sales for the book, instead of it disappearing into oblivion.

Where I feel guilty is when I download a copy of a book that was recently released, because I cannot afford to buy it in hardcover, and don’t want to wait for a paperback edition. Since I have not already purchased it, even though I intend to, it is a true act of piracy- and I do try to restrain myself. Publishers like Baen Books, who sell their new releases for the month whether they are hardcover or paper, for a flat fee in ebook form, mean I do not have to resort to that. Their bundle for the month for a webscription is $15- the price or less for two paperbacks, and I can legally feed my habit.

While there are always going to be people who pirate things for the sake of getting something they did not have to pay for, I think there are many more people like me- who would happily purchase ebooks at reasonable prices, and only resort to other behaviors when this is not possible.

Publishing is in a state of flux. Making sensible decisions about ebooks, and taking advantage of their flexibility is a step that publishers need to take. The hard work was creating a book for sale as a print copy. Pirated books are often as good quality as any print or ebook copy available, with some uploaders adding in pictures from the text. Even books no longer in print- the mid list- still are available as a hard copy somewhere- even if only on the writer’s bookshelf. Scanning it into ebook format is simple enough for high school students. It could put a lot more money into the pocket of writers and publishers to make those books available in non-pirated format, and it would not be filling warehouses, or messing up royalty statements and accounting with returned covers.

I think that many people – me included – would rather pay a reasonable fee for a previously unavailable older book than look for a bootleg copy.

Sometimes I wait till the library has it, unless I’m confident of the author. Sometimes I sit reading in the bookstore for hours. Sometimes I read through as many blogs about the story as I can find. Sometimes I just go to second-hand stores where the books are cheaper and I won’t lose as much out of pocket. But when I find a good book, I buy it, and I don’t mind spending $30 for the hardcover either.

In the end, most purchases are a gamble, and while the odds of winning are greater than in Vegas, I really hate losing money when I could have spent it on a better story, and one I could treasure for years.

E-books are a convenience. I would love to find a CD or a code in the back of my purchases, containing the right to read the book in whatever form suits me. But when it comes down to it, I want to have the paper rendition of my treasures, just in case the media changes too much.

I guess those who truly love books (and there are many of us out there) see that having free access to a truly good story isn’t going to prevent us from purchasing the hard-copy. It’s like a sampler, or a wine tasting. Once we find what we like, we buy a case of it. I would gladly pay for access to an online library of a publisher’s offerings just to have the chance to buy books with confidence that I will re-read and treasure them.

Seeing readers as investors and fine-art collectors would change the market, and perhaps more than anyone might desire. I’m certainly not able to trace all the possible effects. But I think publishers should trust consumers who love books, treating them like the treasures they are. We will let them know when something is worth re-printing by pursuing the hard-copy even if we’ve already read it online. I’m often frustrated to find that a story I love isn’t even available in a quality edition, but only on trash paper and poorly glued binding! *rolls eyes*

The reason I spend money on junk books is because I want to find the good books. I often return books because the story isn’t one I want to keep, or satisfy myself with the paperback because I’ve already spent the money, even though I would have bought the hardcover had I known it would be good.

Do I read pirated books? Not on purpose. I search the internet for stories to read online and, when I download, I try to make it the freebies from publisher’s sites or purchases from the reputable companies. But I still wish I could try those authors I think I would like. I would buy a lot more books if I were confident of the ideas within the pages, and in hardcover. Because that is the sort of library I want to own, shelves of books that I could recommend without hesitation and re-read repeatedly because they are meaningful to me.

Right now, it’s too much of a gamble. I don’t buy books from new authors very often because of this, even though the chance of supporting an author whose writing is well worth it glimmers like gold upon a storm-washed beach.

Your remark about William Shakespeare interested me.

"That's why your economical analysis is wrong. Shakespeare did make a living with his books."

Shakespeare did not write books. He turned popular stories into plays which were written down as Folios. However, although collections were taken during performances, Shakespeare's income was derived from the patronage of Queen Elizabeth.

The result was that many of Shakespeare's plays were propaganda to please the Queen (and to defame her enemies). It worked very well.

I doubt that the patronage business model would work today.

I am not interested in writing an article but if you want to ask or to talk about it here, I will be pleased to talk with you.

It is not possible to protect copyright. You can fight for-profit piracy because you can always follow the money and because any seller (lawful or not) needs to offer his product to public. You can not successfully fight not-for-profit piracy because it is possible to do it so privately as desired. 10 years of RIAA prosecution did get nothing.

However may be I can be useful for your business. I am not just a pirate, I am also a customer. Sometimes I pirate books, sometimes I buy them. Obviously, if you get to maximize the times I buy then you are increasing your sales.

As I said DRM is a Bad Idea. When people buy ebooks, they want to do things like read that book on any present and future device. So many people break the DRM (it is easy) but breaking the DRM is unlawful, so your customers have paid to be outlaws. This is not the kind of thing that discourage piracy.

Everytime I have bought a DRMed book I broke the DRM for the above reason and I did feel fooled because I paid but I was out of law. Just imagine which is the effect on your law abiding customers. They get a product that is worse than what I get when I pirate. Do you want to reduce piracy? Sell your books sans DRM.

My best hint for you: don't obsess with piracy, focus on selling.

I wonder if you would like to write a more formal article or series of articles for E-Reads amplifying on your motives, experience, and especially what you believe authors and publishers should be doing to protect their copyright. Though we deplore media pirates we think there might be benefit for the author and publishing community in confronting them.

You may email me confidentially at info@reads.com

AFAIK I am a typical pirate. Most pirates never upload works, neither sell them, just download. Also most pirates buy content in a way or other. I for instance download movies but go to movie theatres.

In fact many pirates are high spending people. And many music pirates are buying CDs, the real problem of CD market is that CD is becoming obsolete. Digital sales (iTunes and alikes) are speedly increasing. Hulu is not yet available in my country but I am willing to try it as soon as possible,

Do you really think a guy who is scanning a book and uploading it is trying to avoid buying it al Fictionwise? That's a nonsense.

I have also enjoyed this conversation. And don't worry, business is not in danger altough it does need to evolve.

You have me intrigued, Jap. I would suggest you are not a typical pirate because you're not uploading content or selling it on eBay. We'll just have to agree to disagree on the morality issue.

Frankly, I've enjoyed this conversation.