Piracy Kills Authors

Book Pirates Suck!

I spent part of today once again taking time (instead of writing) to send out DMCA notices to pirates sites hosting illegal copies of my books. And once again I'm wondering if it is worth continuing to publish my books.

This is what goes through my head every time I find one of my books has been pirated by some arrogant, selfish individual, who has no regard about the consequences of their actions. I wonder why I publish books at all if I inevitably will have to face this total ingratitude and asshole behavior.

Because I don't have to publish books. No writer has to publish their books. We do it because we want to publish. We want to connect with readers.

This is why it is so disheartening when readers use pirate sites. When readers support pirate sites and screw over authors when they do so. And the sad thing is, readers don't have to use pirate sites, not these days. Amazon, Smashwords, author websites, they all offer legal and free or discounted books for readers. Yet piracy persists.

It makes me ask the questions: 

Why am I bothering?

If people think so little of authors why do I publish at all?

And I don't have an answer.

I wish I did. 

I wish I could tell you that it will get better.

But I can't.

I haven't quit yet. Maybe I never will. Or maybe someday I will say, I've had enough. Take your pirated books, I'm done.  If I do, I'm sure my small career will join the sad ranks of dead authors killed by pirates.

When Did Authors Become Second Class Citizens?

When Did Authors Become Second Class Citizens?

Why are people still condoning online piracy and pirate sites?  And worse yet, participating and encouraging these sites.  Why the lack of respect for authors and other artists, people that you the public supposedly admire?

What is it about being online that makes illegal activities so appealing?  Is it the anonymity?  Except with the technology today, anonymity is harder to come by, users can be tracked, and there is a real possibility that someone will prosecute you.  So why do people do it?

Frankly, I don’t know why people are that offensive and callous, perhaps they just don’t consider what they are doing wrong.  Well consider this, if someone walked into a brick and mortar store, bought several books and then handed those copies out free to incoming shoppers, the owners (or security) would evict them from the store.

But that is exactly what people are doing on pirate sites and in far greater numbers than a few books.  So why is it acceptable online and frowned upon in the real world?

Stop treating authors like they don’t have feelings and they’re not worthy of ethical treatment!

Why Do Book Lovers Support Piracy?

I was Googling myself today (not as kinky as it sounds) and I ran across one of those nasty pirate sites, Fiction Books Bay. Now luckily, I wasn’t on it, but I was shocked at the amount of flagrant copyright violation on that site. Big name authors and smaller indie writers are being violated without consideration of their feelings or hard work. I think it is such a disgrace that people are so disrespectful of authors in this way. 

 

What really prompted this post is that I found books on this site by authors I know from online social sites.

 

Here’s a partial list of writers who have had their rights violated by Fiction Books Bay:

 

First books by the people I know.

• Riyria Revelations Series - Michael J. Sullivan
• Touch of Power - Maria V. Snyder
• Oh. My. Gods. Series - Tera Lynn Childs 

Second, big name authors.

• Jim Butcher 
• Margaret Atwood 
• Harry Turtledove 
• Mercedes Lackey 
• Patricia A. McKillip 
• Piers Anthony 
• Christopher Paolini
• Sherrilyn Kenyon
• Amanda Hocking
• Dean Koontz
• Guillermo Del Toro
• Cassandra Clare
• Julie Kagawa

The self-centered people that upload and download these pirated books never think. They never consider the actual human being, the person behind the book, the one who wrote the words they are stealing (and yes it is stealing, because they have no right to distribute the books). Authors (plus musicians and artists as well) should be allowed to earn their living in peace, without fear of being ripped off.

 

Pirates and supporters of pirates should be ashamed of themselves. You are all bottom-feeders.

 

Thoughts on copyright violation, piracy and illegal downloads

I have been engaged in a few discusions lately on these topics and one question keeps rasing its ugly head.

Who is hurt by copyright violation, piracy and illegal downloads?

Many people, mostly the reprobates that run the dishonest download sites, say no one. They are wrong. The artists, musicians and writers are hurt.
Of course, the pirates don’t want you to think about that because they are making too much money off their website membership subscriptions and advertising. They don’t want you to think about the human beings who created that art, music or book you are illegitimately downloading. They don’t want you to know you are a criminal (you may not like that fact, but it’s true) the minute you pilfer that prohibited copy. Because the fact is these sites are engaging in illegal distribution which is a violation of copyright. They do not have the legal right to provide any copies for downloading. By participating in these sites, you are receiving a pirated copy from an unlawful distributor.

Now, how is piracy hurting people?

Well, creative types need to make a living the same as you, and contrary to popular belief, the majority of writers, musicians or artists do not make millions in royalties. Some of us make a profit, but generally not enough to pay the bills; some artists or writers are lucky if they break even.  Most have regular jobs, our creative efforts are what we love to do in what spare time we can scape together. We send our efforts out into the world hoping someday we can aspire to have a full-time career and you, pirate lovers, are spitting on that.

Our work is our work, not yours. We allow you the opportunity to read it by offering it for sale. You do not have the right to take it!  When pirates rip us off, we feel violated, angry, sad, disappointed and discouraged.  I mean, would you want to try and make a living in a workplace where your potential customers think it is okay to take your work without paying for it?

As a writer, I can tell you months (and no I am not exaggerating) of my life can go into a book. Why would I want to waste that effort on thieves?  Would you?

Think about the person behind that song, book, or graphic next time, before you download. If you think causing pain is fun, then click your mouse.