excuse me. I think I'm going to rant. adult language ahead...

[lagilman]

under the heading of "arrogant," subheading, "weasily little shit."

"...There are 1410 authors, and maybe 15,000-20,000 works (duplicate formats exist for many, most being .pdf). Needless to say countless hours were put into this project (and many more could be), so I hope you like it and will help seed it."

I can't speak to all 20,000 works being pirated, but the ones of mine that person has oh so graciously uploaded sure as hell are.

(s/he was quite upfront about the fact that "(one bloody collection took hours to unpack!$%#)" Apparently s/he never stopped to think that what s/he was doing was, y'know... wrong. In both the moral and legal sense. Or just doesn't give a fuck.)

Stupid little arrogant fuckass. Would like to see how s/he would feel about me taking a portion of his/her paycheck because I waaaaaanted it.

And, of course, to actually get the host to take it down they require you to jump through so many hoops, including registering and tracking down every single file you claim, that I'd lose an entire day just to doing that*. Aren't they so clever and cute and oh no they're not doing ANYTHING wrong, they're in utter compliance with the bare letter of the law....

Again I say, if you download bootleg or pirated materials, you're not "putting it to the publishing companies." You're hurting the writers whose work you claim to enjoy, and making it less likely that there will be any more work from that author. Pirated copies = fewer legal sales = less income for the author = finding some other way to make a living.

So steal if you must. But for fuck's sake don't make like you're doing it for anything other than greedy little selfish get-a-kick-out-of-stealing reasons.

*takes a deep breath, exhales*



*I really need an intern, who will file and go to the post awful, and send DMCA letters for me... anyone want to volunteer? I could pay a small commuting stipend, and chocolate chip cookies...

Comments

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

It's starting to look as if any publishing house really needs a copyright lawyer on staff.

[lagilman]

Oh believe me, they do. But short fiction, the author has to track down their ownselves....

[klingonguy.livejournal.com]

I understand why you might not want to include a URL for this site, but speaking as someone who's only recently moved from short fiction to novels, could you send me the URL in a private email so I can do a search for my own stuff? Thanks.

[http://users.livejournal.com/tesserae_/]

I make a practice of buying books and record albums - I have too many friends who are writers/musicians to do it any other way!

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

That is appalling. What a self-centred, arrogant individual. I hope she gets her comeuppance some day.

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

This is what I call a 'broken morality'.

The person in question is following the age-old (back to the most primitive of primates) urge to share goodness. Just as a monkey will tell the rest of their troop about the tree whose fruit has just ripened, so this person is also trying to share the goodness. There's quite an ancient altruism going on here, and this person does want that recognised: investment of such effort surely deserves being told first by the next monkey when that monkey finds some nice juicy figs.

But as you point out, this person is totally wrong. They're not sharing a natural resource, one that renews itself year on year. They're ripping off your work, but for some reason, they think that that's OK, because after all creatives all get paid plenty
(we all know about those rich rock stars and best selling authors).

And that's the brokenness. They're too stupid to stop and think about whether what they're doing is actually a general good or not. They seem to think that society is rewarding you through some magical means. Perhaps they haven't noticed that we're actually living with a capitalist society, not one that pays writers and artists and musicians whether or not anyone appreciates their work.

(Oh, add programmers to the above group. 'cos I is one.)

[irishkate.livejournal.com]

I'd volunteer but the commute would kill me. ;)

[out-totheblack.livejournal.com]

yes, but there's cookies.

[irishkate.livejournal.com]

I know :-(
But the airlines don't accept cookies in payment :-(
Stupid airlines.

[lotuseyes.livejournal.com]

::raises:: volunteering for intern position XD

I never understand why piraters have such a sense of entitlement.

so we are to feel bad because you spent hours doing something illegal to begin with? How's about I save my sympathy for the authors who put months, if not years, into the works you so blithely put up in hours.

bleh smack them all, stick'em in carbon tube and ship'em off to the sun to burn up.

[chickwriter.livejournal.com]

Assholes.

[delkytlar.livejournal.com]

It's a shame there isn't a writers organization that has the will to send DMCA notices on behalf of its members. There used to be, but...

[lagilman]

I prefer to have someone perform action at my request, not unilaterally deciding what they think I want done.

[delkytlar.livejournal.com]

It always was done only at member request. Then an over-reaction to one mistake ruined it for all the people who had opted-in.

Anyway, I see from another post in your LJ that the new President has announced some positive action on behalf of members. Maybe there is hope for them yet.

[lagilman]

You dislike SFWA's actions and walked away. I supported it and stayed. That sort of ends this discussion.

[delkytlar.livejournal.com]

No. I loved SFWA and was pushed out. But, yes, we disagree on that. It's your LJ, and I like and respect you enough not to argue the issue with you on your LJ.

I do still wish they could have been helpful to you with the pirate.

[lagilman]

You came in with snark on a serious topic. That did not lead to an actual discussion. And, in passing, the idea that SFWA as an entity can organize enough to "push someone out" makes my cats laugh. You stay and work, or you walk. Either is a valid choice but it was your choice.

[tehuti.livejournal.com]

That totally sucks. I would happily help you as an "intern" if I lived nearby. Sadly, the commute from Springfield MA is a bit much. :-)

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Wanna borrow an Italian-style broadsword?

[pds-lit.livejournal.com]

Would you mind sending the URL through email to me. I check it for for my Dearest's works.

And just so you don't feel alone, we have been at this for over the past seven years.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

I say get your publisher after them. They would have way more time and money to fully prosecute the fucking asshole.

[lagilman]

Doesn't do much for short fiction.... publisher worries about an anthology as a whole, not individual stories.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

So, it's just selected stories from anthologies that the pirate uploaded??? That's not only anger inducing that they uploaded stolen works in the first place, but stupid that it's just selected stories.

They probably thought it'd be harder to track them down and have them removed. Ignorant assholes. Hmph.

[ex-fashioni.livejournal.com]

Babe, you made an error in your rant-- this part was clearly supposed to be boldfaced.

Again I say, if you download bootleg or pirated materials, you're not "putting it to the publishing companies." You're hurting the writers whose work you claim to enjoy, and making it less likely that there will be any more work from that author. Pirated copies = fewer legal sales = less income for the author = finding some other way to make a living.

Fucktards.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Verily, I say unto you . . .

Yeah.

[(Anonymous)]

I also don't pay for books when I check them out of the library, do you hate those users as well? These ebooks are free just like a library and even more convenient for the people who use them.
What is your opinion on libraries?

That being said, I bought the ebook version of Fire and Wine and I enjoyed it.

I have to do this anonymously but I don't want to create an account on live journal, so I'll give my twitter name instead: gnimsh

some facts...

[lagilman]

Books that you take out of the library were paid for by the library. Did you think those books were just given away? [if so, you need to figure out how the real world works, rather than just making assumptions without information]. Also, there is a single copy that can be read by a single person and then returned for the next person to read, not duplicated endlessly.

I dislike people who think they can take someone else's work without paying for it. I suspect you would feel the same if you were told you had to do your job and not get paid for it.

Re: some facts...

[(Anonymous)]

I do understand that the library pays for these books, but they are only paid for once. After that one person may borrow the book at a time, but let's say all these readers were using their library instead of the internet, they would all still read the book for free. The book will be in circulation at the library endlessly, and I don't see how that's any different from being "duplicated endlessly." The big difference is the amount of time between the acquisition and reading of the book.

I have heard of a royalty program of sorts through the government which pays authors whose works are in libraries. Do you participate in this program, and does it provide a substantial payment?

Re: some facts...

[lagilman]

The payback program is not within the USA, and in fact is in danger elsewhere because of budget cuts.

I don't care how many people borrow a book, be it from the library (who will buy more copies if a book is popular)or your personal collection. I want the publisher to be paid for the original, so they a) pay me and b) make money, so they buy more books.

If that makes me a money-grubbing whatever, so be it. As I said above, I suspect most people feel the same way about their paycheck. Why writers and musicians are not supposed to worry about where their rent check comes from is something I completely don't understand. It says to me that people who take pirated copies want entertainment, but don't respect the people who provide it.

Here's the deal, as plain and comprehensible as can be: When a book is acquired legally, it is paid for, and the publisher makes some money on the deal. If it is acquired illegally (pirated) then it is not paid for by anyone, and everyone who takes a copy of the stolen book is also not paying for the usage. When that happens, the publisher loses money. If the publisher isn't making money, there ARE NO MORE BOOKS.

When someone supports piracy? They're killing their source of reading material. It's not only illegal, it's STUPID.

Re: some facts...

[(Anonymous)]

If a library pays for a book and then loans it to the patrons for free, that's fine. So then, when a book is bought, taken home, and converted to digital format and uploaded to the internet, isn't that the same thing? After all the publisher was paid for the work in both cases and there is no future income made from the book.

Re: some facts...

[lagilman]

Ok, you're clearly trying to justify behavior you think it "right" without dealing with the consequences.

When the publisher drops your favorite writers because someone has distributed 500-5000 pirated (redistributed without a specific license, which the e-book publisher paid money for) copies of a book on-line, and that means the difference between profit or loss, then maybe you'll change your mind.

Or maybe not. Entitlement is a wonderful thing.

Re: some facts...

[lagilman]

And seriously, if you don't see the difference between loaning a single copy to someone, and making endless numbers of copies [or one copy that can then be 'seeded' everywhere, as the person in my original rant was asking people to do]? Then there's nothing more to be said.

[blitheringpooks.livejournal.com]

Hate is a strong word.

Do I despise and disdain people who steal books? Yes.

Do I despise and disdain people who use the library? No.

And if you don't know the difference... I'm not sure whether to blame it more on your intelligence or your sense of morality.