I recently purchased a short story from Fictionwise, which was not DRM’ed, so I could easily get it into a form where I could read it on my Sony eReader. Thanks to that short story, I was introduced to an author, and a character, which I found very engaging. When I decided to find out more about the character, I found that the author had written two additional short stories, and three additional novels many years ago, but has since stopped writing any more books involving that character. Furthermore, the novels have gone out of print, and are only available from amazon.com as used books.
Unfortunately, I travel a lot. So much so, that one of the few times that I have time to read is when I’m traveling. And I really dislike having to haul dead-tree versions of my favorite novels around; they take up far too much weight and space in my carry-on luggage. Unfortunately, these out-of-print novels were published by a Neanderthal Publishing company who hasn’t made any of the books available in ebook format, DRM’ed or no. Grumpy, I searched on Internet, and found all three novels were easily available for free download — in a pirated form, of course.
Should I download them and convert them into a form which would allow me to read them on my Sony eReader? Well, according to Russell Davis, former chair (and now president of the Science Fiction Writer’s Association) of the SFWA’s Copyright Committee, “electronic infringement is theft”. From a legal perspective, I suppose that is true. And given that as an Open Source programmer, I depend on Copyright Law to assure that my wishes as an author are upheld, it would be hypocritical for me assume that I should be able to ignore Copyright Law just because it is inconvenient.
And yet… from a moral perspective, who has really lost anything? The argument made by Russell Davis is that infringement is bad because it is “harming authors and author estates”. Jerry Pournelle has indignantly proclaimed that e-piracy goes against a “specific (and very stern) Biblical injunction against stealing from widows and orphans”. Of course, in this case, the author is still alive (and is female, although I suppose stealing from widowers would be just as bad). Also, given that the author has publically stated she doesn’t plan to write any more books involving this character (since some of her more psychotic readers sent her death threats as a result of reading said books), the publisher is highly unlikely to re-release said novels — and if I buy used dead-tree versions of said novels, the author doesn’t receive any additional royalties. So, then, where is the moral bright line?
- Should I purchase a used dead-tree copy of the novel, and lug it around, inconveniencing me, causing more CO2 emissions by shipping the book to me, and in the airplane because of its added weight, as the only way I can comply with copyright law? Furthermore, should I do this to set an example to all of the younger generations that are treating copyright law much more casually, much as essentially all drivers casually ignore the law’s dictats to not drive faster than the speed limit? (Many have argued that the current state of affairs with respect to music and etexts and copyright law is bad because it encourages people to not respect the rule of law — I guess, as the argument goes, if people don’t respect the copyright law, what’s next? Torturing prisoners in Guantanomo in violation of the law? Oh, wait… too late…)
- Should I purchase a used dead-tree copy of the novel, slice the binding off, and then run pages through a scanner and an OCR program, then spend hours reformatting it into an .LRF file so I can read it on the Sony eReader? Would that be considered fair use?
- What if I purchase a used dead-tree copy of the novel, but to save the time and effort of scanning the pages and correcting the OCR errors, download the pirated e-text, and convert it into an .LRF file and enjoy it on my Sony eReader?
- What if I don’t purchase the dead-tree copy of the book, download the pirated e-text, and send a money order (so it can’t be traced) for roughly the same amount of money as the cost of the used dead-tree version of the book to the author, with a letter explaining why she was receiving this check?
- What if I just download the pirated e-text, justifying my actions that no one is actually getting hurt my downloading the text and reading it; after all, since it is long out of print and not available from any booksellers as a new book, the author isn’t going to be getting any more royalties anyway.
Somewhere along this continuum, we’ve crossed over from the light-side to the dark-side. Setting aside the observation that the Neanderthal attitudes and business practices of the publisher involved has made it impossible for me to legitimiately follow the law, enjoy the novels, and direct money to the author via royalty payments — what do you think is the morally correct course of action? And why? And if you don’t mind saying so publically, roughly what generation are you from (i.e., Baby Boomer, Gen X, Gen Y, etc.)? I’m curious how attitudes are changing based on age, and whether folks who are currently in college might differ from those who can remember a time when the Internet didn’t exist…
Update: I’ve posted a follow-up to this post here.
Update**2: This post is starting to get more attention from writers and publishers world. For those folks, after you get tired reading through the many comments expressing the opinion that it’s “ok to just pirate it”, you may want to skip ahead to the comments around #240-#250. (Also see some of Charlie Stross’s comments — he’s a British Science Fiction Writer — at comments #180, #193, #198, #204, #206, etc.) There are some much more nuanced discussions about the nature of copyright taking place later in the comment stream, and in my first (I doubt it will be the last) follow-up post. Please jump in and participate in the discussion — and please don’t just ignore first 200 or so comments; those people are your customers, and for those who are Gen X’ers and the Millenials, they are our future. Participating in the discussion is better than pretending they don’t or shouldn’t exist, or trying to sic the lawyers on them like the RIAA and MPAA tried to do…
November 29th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Get the “pirate” copy and send money to the author, everyone wins.
Late model Gen X.
November 29th, 2008 at 1:59 am
I personally believe that using the pirated version and sending the author money is best. It best serves the original purpose of copyright law (that is, encouraging further works). It isn’t your fault that the law forbids doing what’s right. A little bit of civil disobedience is a good thing sometimes…
Generation Y here.
November 29th, 2008 at 2:01 am
I’m twenty-three, and I think you should choose option 3.
I used to be a staunch copyright extremist years ago, believing only option 1 is reasonable, but believing firmly in Fair Use I did certainly believe that your scanning it and reformatting it would be fair use. I still do believe the lawbreaking-is-bad argument, but it’s hard to believe that is so true that you should have to waste hours of your life to enjoy a book the way you want to.
Perhaps your choice of option 3 could be accompanied by a request to allow others to do the same. “Would you release these books on the web for free, since it’s impossible for me to pay you to read them?” Optionally under any sort of license granting those privileges.
I think bringing up the point with the author is valuable; that’s probably the only value society can extract out of the conundrum you find yourself in.
November 29th, 2008 at 2:39 am
Hm. Interesting question. My thoughts:
Generally, publishers, writers, programmers, etc want my money, therefore, they publish things. I think we can agree on that. They want my money, so they make stuff available for me to buy.
Now, we can turn this statement around: If they don’t make their $whatever (books, music, software, …) available for me to buy, then obviously, they don’t want my money. And if they don’t actually want my money, why should I give it to them? If something cannot be bought, it’s perfectly ok to obtain it using other means.
Thus, I would just pirate it.
Not sure what generation I belong to, I’m in my mid 20s
November 29th, 2008 at 3:14 am
Infringement is not theft. Theft involves depriving the rightful owner of possession of their property. If the book is no longer in print and the publisher can’t be bothered to sell an ebook edition, I say infringe away. If there is no product to buy, and you want to enjoy the book, I suspect the author would want you to enjoy the book.
1-If you buy a used copy, why not just put it on your bookshelf and download the illegitimate ebook version? Sounds like fair use to me, and I fail to see how, having bought an actual copy of the book, you could be setting a bad example for anyone. Seems to me the hard copy on your bookshelf legitimizes the ebook on your hard drive.
2-Why would you bother spending any time or effort making your own ebook out of the dead-tree edition when you could just download an existing ebook? In this hypothetical you already own a physical copy, why ruin it(slicing the binding off) by wasting your time and energy creating something that already exists?
3-Exactly.
4-Can’t argue with that approach either. And I can’t see how the author would object. You just provided her with payment for something she never expected to make money off of again, and at the same time let her know that there are people still out there reading/enjoying her work. I suspect you’d get a kind letter in response thanking you for your efforts (oh - except you indicate you’d do this anonymously - I still think the author would appreciate your efforts, even if she couldn’t let you know about it).
5-I don’t personally have any issues with this last hypothetical. If nobody’s selling it(meaning publishers, bookstores, etc, not Amazon used-product-sellers), you can’t exactly buy it now can you? If supporting the author (and/or orig. publisher) is your main interest here, this hypothetical is slightly less moral than the last, but I definitely wouldn’t call it immoral. The only way the author is going to get paid is if you go out of your way to send money you’re not actually obligated to send, directly to her. Her book isn’t on the shelves, and her publisher sees no profit in marketing her work in any way - again, if there’s no product to buy, I suspect the author would be happy to have you enjoy her work even without having paid money for the priveledge. That’s ultimately what she wrote the stories for in the first place (I would hope).
Short of downloading the ebook and actually selling copies of it to unsuspecting readers, it’s difficult to find a completely unethical course of action here. What good is the law if it allows this publisher to sit on these works indefinitely when people out there are willing to pay good money to enjoy them? If there’s no money left to be made on these works(in the publisher’s eyes), why aren’t they released into the public domain? How many works will be lost to history because of BS like this?
I’m 30 btw, maybe that makes a Gen-Xer, idk for sure.
November 29th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Ted,
My first impulse was to suggest buying a physical copy of the books and downloading/converting the e-book. But I immediately rejected that since the texts are out of print and neither the author nor the publisher would receive any money from the purchase.
Buying and scanning the book seems to add a lot of work with little or no purpose. Again, no money goes to the author or publisher.
Buying the books and downloading the e-texts seems like a reasonable approach at first, but again, what is the point of buying the book if no money goes to the author?
To me it comes down to the last two options or a possible third option. You could contact the author and she what she would like you to do.
Legally, there is little or no difference between the final two possibilities you outlined; you have no legal justification to have an electronic version of the texts. Morally, on the other hand, there is a difference. It all comes down to how you feel about victimless crimes.
I would rank these possibilities in this order of moral correctness according to my set of morals as I subscribe to no other:
1. Contact the author, abide by her wishes.
2. Download the e-texts, send the author a reasonable sum of money.
3. Buy used copies of the books and scan or download the e-texts (little or no moral difference here from my perspective.)
4. Buy used copies of the books, read them.
5. Download the e-texts, make no attempt to compensate.
However, I would rank them differently in terms of likelihood I would do them. That would probably be more like this:
1. Download the e-texts, make no attempt to compensate.
2. Buy the dead tree editions, read them. (I don’t have an e-book reader yet)
3. Download the e-texts, send the author a reasonable sum of money.
4. Contact the author, abide by her wishes.
5. Buy used copies of the books and download the e-texts.
6. Buy used copies of the books and scan into e-texts.
I’d be very interested in knowing both what you choose to do and what books you are speaking of. I’m, uhh, a Gen Xer, I guess. 41 years old.
November 29th, 2008 at 4:26 am
I favor your next-to-last option: grab the e-text, and send the author some money. Since both the author and publisher have already gotten paid for any used copy you might buy, using the pirated e-text seems to me little different ethically from checking out a book from a lending library. But rewarding the author again does have a certain appeal, and is something I would probably do in your situation.
I’m a late Boomer, long out of college. The internet didn’t exist when I was growing up; heck, *computers* barely existed in the consciousness of most people. I’m a writer and author of flee software, and am always in favor of rewarding creators. I do my best to honor the spirit of copyright, even when the letter of the law seems askew, as it does in the case you describe. Enjoy the work, acknowledge and reward the creator’s efforts, and all’s right with the universe.
November 29th, 2008 at 4:53 am
Download the pirate copy, send author money + letter. If printing letter, beware the yellow dots.
I was born in the mid ’70s.
November 29th, 2008 at 5:06 am
I would personally purchase a 2nd hand copy of the book and lug it around with me. I like physical books.
However I would have no problem in downloading the pirated e-text and sending a money order + letter to the author direct.
Born in ‘73 so I guess that makes my one of the Gen Xer’s?
November 29th, 2008 at 5:11 am
Given your description of the situation I think The Right Way would be to send some money in the order of the value you derive from reading the book to the author, including an explanation.
Not only does this settle your moral obligations by paying off the received value, but also it might encourage the author to face off the death threats.
Of course it might have to beconsidered that it is the author’s explicit desire that the books are not published anymore. In that case sending money might not have any impact on your moral obligations to the author.
November 29th, 2008 at 5:38 am
For me.. it’s an easy question…
I would consider the last two options. I say this, because I’m in a familiar situation. Consider the state of DVD’s. All main-stream DVDs sold are protected by the CSS encryption. Decrypting the DVD is only allowed with hardware or software which pays royalties to the dvd consortium.
which is not possible for FOSS software (paying per download?!).
So if I want to use Free Software to watch DVD’s, I’m forced to do it illegal.
And I don’t want to support a system forcing me to be illegal. So I’m not buying main stream DVDs.
Which hurts because I REALLY want to have some (e.g. Futurama, …).
So I’m in a familiar position. I download the movies without paying from them.
On the other hand: I’m happy to support artists on jamendo.com with my money. Because I can listen to the music the way I like and can then decide if I want to support them.
November 29th, 2008 at 5:58 am
Well written. Good expounding.
(1) To re-state what has been stated very often: copyright violation is not theft. It is copyright violation (which is still against the law and morally questionable anyway, but…). And copyright law has been skewed far too much away from public interest (in this case: if a publisher is not able to make available a work for some time, the copyright should go back to the author. Or to the public). Yadda yadda.
(2) I would go with the fourth option: download and send some money.
(3) My generation? 1956.
Regards
– tomás
November 29th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Pirate it and send the author a cheque and a stern letter.
November 29th, 2008 at 6:55 am
Do you really feel bad about buying a physical book because of CO2 emissions? That sounds a bit silly after saying that you travel a lot yourself.
Personally, I would buy the book and download the pirated digital version. In fact, I have done this with several books. (I cannot see that this is wrong with regards to copyright law, which must, as you say, be upheld.)
(Buying and scanning would also be okay. But sending money directly to the author would likely be unfair to all the others who contributed to the book — agent, publisher, editor, typographers, etc.)
An option which you didn’t mention would be to not read the book at all. Are you willing to sacrifice one selfish desire for both copyright law and the environment?
Thanks for a thoughtful and interesting blog!
Vegard (age 21)
November 29th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Agree with foo above - pirate and send money directly to the author noting that she should open a paypal account for further fan donations. The goal of the copyright system is to reward the authors (or at least the publishers brave enough to invest money in authors) if neither is possible for you then a direct check is the best way to comply with the spirit and intent of the copyright law.
You can always stop copying the book if the author or the publishers asks you to.
November 29th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Do the last one.
November 29th, 2008 at 7:50 am
This situation happens alot. If the material you are after is not pratically available to you, then I see no moral problem with copying it.
Thats all there is to it as far as i see it.
I guess 4 is the most morally correct choice, although 2 is probably the most legal choice and 5 is the most practical.
November 29th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Hello,
it’s a rather diffcult answer to give in such a situation.
Being an free-software advocate/professional i can’t just said get the pirate copy because copyright law is what protect us also. Also in real life you don’t imagine going to a shop and taking something for free.
I would rather buy i used copy. The author doesn’t want to write about it anymore, is publisher doesn’t want to print it anymore so i have no option to buy normally (meaning the author will get it’s author rights)
I’am forty one
Cheers
November 29th, 2008 at 8:04 am
+1
November 29th, 2008 at 8:21 am
In order to survive where I come from, we learn that when bureaucracy makes things impossible for you, then you have to pretend that it doesn’t exist and try to do your best. It’s not worth to waste your effort on things or people who do not deserve it.
November 29th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Take the e-text, send a check or money order, have a clean conscience. I’m between 30 and 45.
November 29th, 2008 at 8:51 am
by the way, german copyright law has a rule that you can xerocopy a book which is out of print for two years. Scanning such a book should be covered by the same rule. Copying a pirated etext file would be a very grey area.
November 29th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Hoist the jolly roger and send a check to either the author or her favorite charity (raptors, if I’ve guessed correctly) or buy one of her in-print books if you want to help sales rank but give her less money.
November 29th, 2008 at 9:48 am
I would just pirate it. If I felt guilty, I’d look around for a charity to give a donation to, rather than making unsolicited personal contact with the author. If the author had a web page and sob story up, I might paypal as recommended there, but I am sensitive to “entitled to payment for my work” vs. “I’m actually having hard times and need it” (strongly favoring the latter).
My generation: oldest edge of millennial.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Well, you can ask the author what she think is the best you can do? even she may have a spare copy.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Download it and donate the amount of money you would have paid for it to your local library.
I like the idea of buying the physical copy and downloading the pirated version.
However, if you can correspond with the authoress, why not tell her you would like to give her money and get an electronic copy, but there doesn’t seem to be a legal way to do that. You can say that it’s probably already out there in electronic format, for free.
Point her to the software (eReader has some that’s like $30) that will allow her to convert the book.
Basically, show her that people who want digital copies will get them, so she might as well make one available for free.
BTW, I use eReader on my iPhone and LOVE it. I’m the kind of person who is in the middle of 2-5 books at any given time.
November 29th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Hm. Interesting question. My thoughts:
Generally, publishers, writers, programmers, etc want my money, therefore, they publish things. I think we can agree on that. They want my money, so they make stuff available for me to buy.
Now, we can turn this statement around: If they don’t make their $whatever (books, music, software, …) available for me to buy, then obviously, they don’t want my money. And if they don’t actually want my money, why should I give it to them? If something cannot be bought, it’s perfectly ok to obtain it using other means.
So, I would just pirate it.
Not sure what generation I belong to, I’m in my mid 20s
November 29th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I guess the option to dl the pirated copy and send the author a cheque is, by far, more ethical than any of other options: not only you enjoy the novel in the way you like, ALSO the author receives a larger compensation if you only bought the used dead-tree version…
I guess the editors have nothing to say here, as they won’t benefit from either option…
November 29th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Yeah, what foo said. I’m in my mid 30s. Label that if you will.
November 29th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Buy a used paper copy and leave it at home, then read the warez copy and either keep both copies or donate the paper copy to the library and delete the warez. (No, don’t pay the author for signing the one-sided contract that let the book get into this situation to begin with.)
November 29th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
The first obstacle here is obviously the law. In this case there’s a publisher who you would most likely need to satisfy. As an example a couple of decades ago, when I still had windows, I contacted a company and asked for permission to run it on two computers and got their consent.
Sending an email is preferable as it will give you a written record.
You can also go to the author and see what agreements she has with the publisher. She might be in a position to grant you a copy.
Laws are there to enforce policy. Policy is there to solve a problem.
The problem is that people often can’t be trusted to remove it after a short test time. Thus a policy that you are not allowed to install it on more than one computer, or whatever their EULA says.
As another example from windows days, I used to get a bootleg copy of a program and check it out. If I liked it I bought it, if not I removed it entirely from the computer. I established a three months rule to decide, otherwise it was too easy to just continue to use it.
If you take every reasonable action to make sure the right thing is done, and ultimately, that you feel honestly “clean” about your action, then get on with life. (Of course that action might just as well turn out to be, nothing.) You have to live with yourself, and respecting yourself and your actions is the most senior thing. At least then you can face yourself whatever happens.
-50’s
November 29th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
hi,
Your post highlights some very important issues with the current situation on copyright.
I live in France where some laws on those issues are currently being examined by the parliament.
I am a member of an advocacy group which tries to defend fair use and net neutrality in Europe and in France.
So I’d like to ask you if it could be possible to translate your post and put the translation and original on our website: http://www.laquadrature.net/
Or maybe you could license the text under a creative-commons license which would permit us to publish a translation.
Best regards
Eric
PS: you can read more about us here: http://www.laquadrature.net/en/who-are-we
November 29th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Eric, if you would like to translate my post and place it on the http://www.laquadrature.net/, you have no objection to me. I’d prefer if you link back to the original post if people want to read it and comment on it in English, if you don’t mind. Thanks!!
November 29th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
A colleague of mine who worked in biotech in the late 1980s and early 1990s (before scientific journals were widely available over the internet) had a side business copying and delivering scientific journal articles to academics in the Boston area. One of the costs included in his fee provided for payment of royalties to the copyright holder.
At that time, there were companies in the business of distribution of royalty payments that would charge a flat fee per article per copy, and would forward the appropriate royalty to the copyright holder. Every month, this colleague would send a record of the articles that he distributed (including author and publisher data) along with his payment.
I assume there are still companies that do this, but a quick Google search returned only information on digital copies of recorded music, and I didn’t take the time to refine my search accordingly.
The problem with sending the author money directly is that she undoubtedly sold the copyright to the publishing company in exchange for their publishing the book, so they would be the legitimate recipients of any royalty payments, not her. Based on their contract with the author, they would then forward the appropriate percentage back to the author.
Probably the most legally aboveboard approach would be to contact the publisher, stating that you have come into possession of an electronic copy of the text that you suspect may have been pirated, and that you want to send the appropriate royalty directly to them in exchange for the right to read the text (personal use only) in the same way that you would read a print copy of the book.
For the record, I was born in December 1964, which places me on the cusp between the baby boomers (1946-64) and generation X (1965-78).
November 29th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
You should consider the possibility that the author couldn’t (legally) accept your money for the book, I think that’s typically the case for published stuff (i.e. the author can’t make money from the licenced text outside of the publisher scope). So sending her money might put *her* in a moral dilemma of accepting the it and violate her contract or not.
Consulting the author would be definitely the right way ™ IMO. That said I would probably just download the illegal copy and recommend it to friends in a way to payback the author somehow, that way, maybe enough demand is created that the author considers to start writing again or the publisher to re-edit the books. Or, maybe, the author simply get more money for being more popular (and people buying her newer books or she getting a better contract for her new books).
FWIW, I’m 25.
November 29th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
just go to the library.
November 29th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Option two should be fair use. Would it really take hours to do this? I work at a college and we have book scanners for this exact purpose. Remove the binding, insert book. It copies both sides.
We scan books all the time for the purpose of making them accessible to students with disabilities. (usually Kurzweil or for use with computers/devices that make the print readable to people with visual disabilities).
We are required to verify that the student brings the book in and has a receipt before making the copy. But at that point it is considered fair use.
November 29th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
I’d say either buy the book + use pirated version, or just pirate the book. I don’t know the situation with this author, but usually there is no easy way to send money to the author. Moreover, by sending the money only to the author in fact you will rob the publishers: they paid money not only for publishing (I mean producing and selling paper version of the book), but also some amount of money was spent on adverising the book, on other targets, etc. So, either be fully lawfull, or just pirate. Sending money to the author is a bit strange.
OTOH if you’d like to be more ‘lawful’, you can buy the paper book and send it to the nearest library/orphaned children house/etc (and use the e-version in the mean time). The author, the publisher, etc. will receive all necessary loyalties, but you won’t have paper tome in your luggage
November 29th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
P.S. Generation Y
November 29th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
It’s a dilemma. I’m suggesting to download e-text and buy a used copy (no need to reformatting). If you prefer to download pirated e-text because of moral issue then try to contact the author first, ask her opinion about that.
FYI: I’m 27.
November 29th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Just download the effing book and stop beating yourself up about it, sheesh. It’s not wrong, it’s only illegal, the two are not the same. Oh, and support your local Pirate Party. http://www.piratpartiet.se/international/
Gen X I guess.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Pirate it, find an email address for the author and Paypal her a couple of bucks.
I think I’m supposedly a GenXer but I’ve never felt any kinship with profiles of them. I was born in ‘71 and started fooling around with the local BBS scene in the late eighties. And like a huge percentage of other artists of todal, one of my primary figure-drawing texts in school was a Xerox copy of the fabulous but out-of-print Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Generation Y.
Option 5. Pirate the book. Read it with good conscience. I don’t believe the publisher/author are entitled to anything when they are not making the book available to you anymore. I think that an artistic work that has previously been published, but has not been available from the owner in any shape or form for some time should become public domain. Works are becoming extinct because of things like this.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
If you wanted to follow the strict bounds of the law, you probably have to go with #2, buying a used copy and scanning the book yourself. That would probably be fair use. #3 would probably technically break the law, but it’s unlikely that you would ever be prosecuted for it, unless, say you did it through a torrent and by participating in the torrent you were also helping others potentially infringe. In other words, if you buy the book used and then download a digital copy, you’d probably be breaking the law, but I would consider it still moral.
The real problem comes when you download it without buying the used copy or buying any other legitimate copy. What is the difference? When you buy a used copy, the author or publisher might not make any money, but you have removed one more book from the secondary market. You reduced the supply of books which does affect the price of other outstanding books, even if it is a very small reduction.
So #2 is fine legally and morally, #3 is fine morally but legally problematic, though I would feel justified doing it. Beyond #3, that would be wrong and an unjustifiable copyright violation.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Pirate the text.
Illegal? Yes.
Moral? Absolutely. Copyright has nothing to do with morals as conceived in the USA. It’s the benefit of a “bargain” with the government.
Ethical? Well, it’s a bit grey. You’re violating the law. It really comes down to whether you believe the law is fair and just and whether you really believe it to be so or if you are merely trying to justify your actions. I’d happily send money to the author for an out-of-print work I value, as others have suggested.
I think copyright has swung so incredibly and ridiculously in favor of the copyright holders (even with the exemptions) that the law itself is unethical and ought to be repealed in its current form. I don’t buy into the “property” or continental European “moral justification for copyright” arguments AT ALL.
I believe in a strong right to attribution and a very limited period of copyright protection and no more. 20 years at the most, ideally with increasing maintenance fees for the life of copyright, like patents.
Gen X/Y borderline (1981), College Grad - B.S. + doctorate
Aspiring author & musician, among other things. I’m putting my money where my mouth is.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Get the pirated version, then send the author a money order sounds like the most ethical thing to do. The whole reason the author won’t make any more money off the book is the publishing company’s refusal to do so. But your co2 argument is laughable, taken on a singular basis. The amazon.com seller would either send the book via USPS, who comes by their house daily anyway, or mail/ship it on their next outing. As for the plane, a 7 oz. book won’t even have an effect on its fuel mileage.
30 years old, whatever gen that makes me.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Buy the out of print book and read it the old fashioned way. No one owes you an eBook version. A pirated book is a pirated book. Wrong is wrong regardless. I laugh at all of you who said you would send money to the author. Right, you are going to fill out a good old time check or money order, research a mailing address for the author (if you can find one), take the time to fill out an envelope (you gen Y types know how to use one?) and then mail it snail mail to the author…LOFL!!! Sure you would. Stop rationalizing theft!
Early Model Gen X.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Gen. Y Here, I am 18.
I am perhaps among the few who think that illegal does not necessarily equal immoral. Think back to the 50’s: What Rosa Park’s did was illegal. No questions about it. Was it wrong? Few people now would be willing to argue that it was wrong to not give up her seat to a white person, however no one would deny that it was indeed illegal at the time. Similarly, I strongly believe it is not wrong to “pirate” information just because it is prohibited by our pathetically archaic copyright law.
If you bought the book used, who would get the money? Not the author. Not the publisher. The individual selling the book would be the only one who would benefit from you buying a used copy. The author would receive no compensation, therefore the argument of Russel Davis that you mentioned does not apply. By his reasoning, buying a used copy would be just as much “theft” as downloading the book off the internet. Think about that one for a moment. Granted, if you had downloaded the book instead of buying it from the author or the publisher, that might be a different story, as you are not actively supporting the author so they can produce more works. However, in this instance, you have actively searched for the book in a form that you can use, and have been turned down by the publisher. They have no intention of making any more profit from the book and have abandoned all claims of interest in the matter.
Information wants to be unlimited and free. It is stubborn, neolithic individuals like the publisher you mentioned above that are impeding the spread of universal knowledge, knowledge that would often possibly result in the general betterment of mankind. Download the copy of the book, and then perhaps send a few dollars to the author along with a note explaining what you did and why. Be sure to thank her for writing such a great book, and encourage more to write more like it. There’s nothing more you can do.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
I think it is important to seperate the legal question of infringement, from the moral/ethical question. From a legal persective, #1 is the only unambigiously legal option. #2 is most likely is fair use, though some would argue form shifting is in fact infringement. #3 has a strong case for being fairuse as well, though you now have 2 copies and if you used BT, you have helped distribute the pirated copy. #4 and #5 are clearly infringment.
From the moral/ethic angle, asuming that you don’t adopt a view that any violation of law is unethical, it all depends on what you think of copyright law as a whole. I generally think the current state of copyright law is wrong. However I recognize that there needs to be a way for authors to make a living off thier works. Luckily that is no longer a problem when your dealing with an out of print book. If the author is no longer commercially exploiting the work, the rational behind copyrights is gone, and there is no problem. If our copyright laws were more sane, this wouldn’t be a problem.
As far as I’m concerned, if you can’t get it legally, in a format usable to you, and at a price that is atleast somewhat fair, there is nothing wrong with with aquiring it some other way.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
(Ethical arguments aside) the option where you send money to the author is better than anyone who simply takes the book out of the library and reads it, or buys a used copy - when we just consider the author.
Because, when a library buys the book, doesn’t the author/whatever only get paid for one copy? (Maybe I’m wrong, but to my mind, only one book was sold.)
But anyway - if I check the book out of my public library, I’m basically a freeloader (follow my train of thought here). No one gets any of my money.
And if I buy a used book, again, the author doesn’t get anything from me. Neither does the publisher.
So if I do the download and send money, I’m a really great guy, at least to the author.
If I download it and don’t send money, I’m really no different from someone who uses the library or buys a used book. I didn’t physically steal anything.
And I mean, if I cannot buy a new copy of it because it is out of print, then is that my fault?
Here I am, a paying customer, please take my money, I want you to take my money, but you won’t sell me a book.
Perhaps this is why some of the more forward thinking authors are going to alternatives like POD and so forth.
The whole issue of copyright infringement vs. true physical theft is a tough one.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I guess that I’d be classed as “Generation Y”, although I’ve barely even heard the term before. I’m 19 years old though. I’m also actively interested in copyright reform and digital rights, if that counts for anything.
In my opinion, the most morally option from above would be to download the eBook version and send some money to the author, along with a letter explaining why. The amount of money should probably be about £5/$10.
Of course, another option would be to contact the author BEFORE doing anything. Write her a letter telling her that you enjoyed her work and are interested in more, but that it is out of print and explain your situation. Specifically ask her if it would be okay with her for you to download her books, and that you’d be willing to send her some money. Nine times out of ten, you’ll get a perfectly rational person who will say “Sure, download it. Don’t worry about the money - glad that you enjoy my work! Thanks for the letter.” An older, more niche author will really appreciate letter. Even if she doesn’t turn out to be as charitable as that, you’ll respect her wishes and not just do what the internet thinks. It is very unlikely that any author would essentially tell somebody not to read their works.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Option 5, no contest and no doubts. What dark side? The situation you outline is cut and dry, no grey area at all on the moral (as opposed to the legal) side.
If you want to support the author, sure send her a cheque or buy other books of hers, but I see no moral imperative there.
I’m 32 btw.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
One issue that has not been commented on is that reading those books/novels is not something independent of the rest of Ted’s life. It’s not like his likely choices during a plane trip are “read those books” or “sleep” — far more likely, they are “read those books” or “read other books”.
If Ted is like most other readers, then his book consumption is limited more by the available reading time than by the supply of quality books — meaning the time he spends reading a “pirated” book is time he does NOT spend reading a legit one… which he then also won’t buy, or pay for. Which, sadly, undermines the whole “nobody is losing anything” argument for just downloading those books; Someone *does* lose the sale of a properly distributed book.
There are often calls in the software world to make abandoned or superceded commercial software free to copy, with the same “nobody is making any money of it, so who could possibly get hurt?” argument. And the answer, of course, is that the makers of currently actively marketed software would get hurt, by having some of their market cannibalised by those free-to-copy oldies. Of course, those are often the very same people who wrote those oldies in the first place…
The same is true for books. Sometimes, withdrawing books from being available is the best business decision (or, in this case, it might even have been a personal decision by the author, who knows?). Copyright law gives the copyright owners the discretion to do with their works as they please; While usually this is seen as mainly encouraging the creation of works due to being able to make money from them, Ted is certainly aware that *control* is what the law provides, rather than money.
Given the reactions of her readership, the author may want that world dead and buried as far as possible; Who are we to decide that she is wrong, and that thus we are somehow justified in making copies of her work?
The publisher may have made a conscious (if maybe misguided) decision to let their back catalog become unavailable, in order to bolster sals of new releases providing higher margins. While we may tell them they are wrong, we should do so by supporting (with our purchases) publishers who behave “right”, not by simply circumventing the “wrong” publisher’s decision.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
P.S. No idea what generation… mid 20’s
November 29th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Sounds like Jeff @34 has got it figured out. But personally I like option #4 the best. Borderline boomer/X.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
According to he first sale doctrine people can resell copyrighted works they legally posses (like Books and CDs) and the copyright holder is not entitled to a share of the sale. So, as far as Jerry Pournelle’s (who I’ve come to regard as a blow hard) comments about piracy being equivelent to stealing from orphans and widows, there is effectively no difference in this case. Whether you buy the used copy or pirate the e-book, neither the publisher or the author will get any benefit from your purchase. With that in mind I say pirate it.
“specific (and very stern) Biblical injunction against stealing from widows and orphans”
Copyright was setup to, “promote the progress of science and useful arts…” not as a trust fund. Copyright has been extended to ridiculous lengths largely at the behest of large copyright holders and there well funded lobbyists.
Gen Y
November 29th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Personally, I’d buy the paper book and read it. Owning an e-book reader that was developed specifically to promote the sale of DRMed books seems ethically questionable.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Legally: Buy the real book second hand, leave it at home, download and read the pirated text on your eReader.
Morally: Download the pirated text, and either pay the author directly to ensure her income - OR - buy one of her current in-print books, ensuring the continuing business of her and her publishing house.
Realistically: The book is now abandonware. Download, enjoy, don’t pay anyone anything.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Seems simple to me. Download the pirated version and send the money to the author. That way, she is rewarded for her work - at a higher rate, I would assume, than she would if she received a royalty for your buying a new copy (which of course, is impossible) - and you get to enjoy it in the format you prefer.
Gen Y.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
download the pirated version. if you like the book write a thank you note to the author and send it some money if you want/can.
information wants to be free.
corporate capitalism will collapse soon… good riddance.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Just download it - after reading it, if you feel it was worth it, then send a donation to the author.
If you’re feeling quilty _before_ downloading and reading the book, then contact the author and suggest s/he self-publish the book and make it available online; if the publisher still holds the copyright and the author can’t do that, then say “screw it” and download it. You can still send a donation to the author if you want to.
Haven’t seen “what’s a fair donation?” discussed; remember, the author _might_ have received as much as 10-20 cents per copy sold, but probably not even that much!
Born in Sep 1942 (war baby, pre-baby-boomer).
November 29th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I would just download it. I don’t have moral issues woth copyright: books are meant to be read.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
43, Canadian, option 3.
One point that has been missed is that purchasing the used copy contributes to the market value of the used books.
Another is that it is often difficult to get ahold of authors and even publishers years after a book has gone out of print, so option four is often a lot of work or even impossible… and harms the market for the existing, used books.
Option three seems like it aught to fall within the aegis of fair use, while simultaneously boosting the market value of the physical artifact of the author’s work.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
I think the closest thing to following copyright law would be to buy the dead-tree version, then download it.
I’m thinking as if it were a CD. If you bought a used CD, then downloaded the music from the internet instead of the CD and *did not* share the music, then it’s perfectly legitimate to have the mp3s of a CD you own for your own personal use. I’d image the same would apply to a book, correct?
Or even better: go to library and borrow the book and download the ebook. When your borrowing of the book ends, either return book and permanently erase the ebook, or renew the borrowing and continue to read ebook. I figure as long as you have that library book it doesn’t matter what format you’re reading it in, and if everyone did this our public libraries would get more use and therefore more funding. I’m tired of seeing local libraries close due to Amazon.com and ebooks.
Gen X
November 29th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
If you were to buy a used book neither the author or the publisher get any money, so what exactly is the difference if you download the e-book? simple logic. born 1946.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
I wouldn’t let the mob decide what is right or not. You should do what you feel is right. I wish I had time to read fiction! I’m too buys reading blogs!
I do get the feeling that the author/publisher does not want your money.
Joseph Durnal
November 29th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
#5 with a caveat.
The publisher received the money it was due when the book was purchased the first time. The author received the money *she* was due as a royalty on that purchase. Sending a check to either party would be like sending a check to NBC after watching Seinfeld in syndication.
The only commercial reason to restrict the sale of an out-of-print work is so that the book can be re-published. Even if the author doesn’t want to re-publish the book now, she may change her mind in ten years. It’s obviously better to sell the book to people who haven’t read it already, so I believe this is a fair point.
So the only way to acquire the book with a clean conscience is to download the pirated e-text now, and vow to PURCHASE a new copy of the book if it’s ever re-published. That’s actually better for the publisher and the author than buying a used copy today and then never buying another copy. (And if you die before that happens they wouldn’t have gotten your money anyway, so there’s no harm done.)
I see no problem with assuming that the publisher will agree with this plan, since the media companies all assume that you’ll try to steal from them. It all balances out.
37 years old.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Just download the text. The only individual being compensated for an out-of-print book is the reseller. These resellers, along with the book publishers, have just as much right as the RIAA to put together a large, hostile league of litigators to try and terrorize the public out of doing something similar, considering their being the mouthpiece of media purveyors rather than the actual artist. They haven’t done so to such an extent as the music industry, so I wouldn’t be worried.
So long as you are not personally distributing the pirated copy, you have done nothing wrong by downloading something already made public. The burden is on those making the files available to comply with copyright law–not yours. They are far more likely to be prosecuted than you would for simply downloading. If I were someone interested in protecting the rights of my works, I’d be sure to stay ahead of the curve and check the internet regularly for such copies. If a publisher isn’t doing this, it’s their own fault. It’s not hard–no one is keeping the best places to find pirated IP a secret.
In both the case of music as well as writing, the creators of the work have been compensated by the resellers and media-publishers already. Especially in the cases of out-of-print works, the compensation will only go to rather antiquated resale venues.
The problem with acting “legally” in this situation is that the law is still astoundingly muzzy around IP and the Internet. Realistically, I would say that even jurisdiction over many online activities is still up for debate. That being said, the FBI nor the NSA is interested in your possible petty theft of a ten-dollar book.
These moribund business models really don’t merit support. If they’re not keeping up with the times, they’ll die out by simply not attracting new talent. It’s the job of the artists or their fans to make sure the works are preserved in a stable medium. Paperback books just aren’t as stable or transferable as ASCII-encoded text, and they take up too much space, anyway.
I’m a 24-year-old software developer who has also been a musician and academic. I have made music, print, and code all freely available on the web.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
1. download the pirate text
2. send the author 10 percent of the cover price (a generous amount as royalties go)
3. donate the rest to EFF
me — chronologically gen-x, philosophically gen-y
November 29th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Hello I am a 17 year old male in answer to your question situated in Wales, Europe. I believe that the right thing to do would be to send the money to the author for the price that people are selling them second hand and download the eBook/text version. That is what I feel the most moral way in which to obtain the book however the most practical thing and what I would do is just to download the book and not pay anything. It is out of print and the author doesn’t do eBook formats so how do they expect to get anything from this?
November 29th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I choose:
“Don’t purchase the dead-tree copy of the book, download the pirated e-text, and send a money order (so it can’t be traced) for roughly the same amount of money as the cost of the used dead-tree version of the book to the author, with a letter explaining why she was receiving this check?”
Since the publisher doesn’t want the money, but you enjoy the book, pay the author for their effort and enjoy the book. As Asimov said, “Don’t let you sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right”.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Check the book out of the library, download the pirated copy, read it, and delete it. If you want to read it again, check it out of the library again, download it again, etc.
While it’s true this won’t give the author money, it’ll keep her on the library’s list of popular authors and give them incentive to get more books. You’re demonstrating your interest, which is legitimate; reading the library’s copy won’t cost you anything, and neither will reading the ebook. Nobody loses.
I was born in 1988.
November 29th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Since you know the woman’s received death threats in connection with this book of hers, for God’s sake don’t send her an anonymous check in connection with that book.
If you include your identity, then she can figure you’re still a wierdo, but not a dangerous one.
If I were her, however, I’d not cash the check or respond in any way, just to be on the safe side.
Maybe if you have to write, it could be in the form of a fan letter, casually mentioning the dilema, rather than having some overarching moral question that forces you in particular, to send her a check, or be in any way demanding of her judgement in the matter.
The legal copyright questions are interesting, but at the human level, there’s definitely something wierd about it.
If this were the first reel of a Hitchcock film, we wouldn’t know for sure who the villain (the source of the real life death threats that you happen to know about) was going to be.
Or maybe this is a hypothetical propaganda story, in which the author turns out to have very valid reasons to suppress her own work. to help justify DRM. I suspect the latter.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Either
~Buy the used book and haul it around till you’re done reading it and either shelve it or sell it back to a used book store. The carbon footprint for this is negligible since it is so low weight. It is not all that much bother either, I usually have many books stashed with me when I travel.
or
~buy the book used and go through the bother of converting it into a format that will work with your reader.
Using a pirate just adds to their base and will support and encourage them in piracy (including things that are currently covered under royalties). Also it you buy from the thief (or get for free-to-you from the thief) you are not buying from a legitimate business.
By buying from a used book seller you are purchasing something at a fairly low price from a legitimate business that is already operating on a thin margin.
The reference above to sending a letter to the publisher and author suggesting that the stories be made available online due to lack of ebook format and general scarcity is a good idea. Baen books actually has a ‘library’ of quite a few of their books that can be read for free online (the authors pick which, if any, of theirs can go up for free to promote sales; it helps if the first book in a series is free)
November 30th, 2008 at 12:02 am
I guess this is a time in the evolution of media that we come across these questions. Is it “ok” to pirate things if (even if I send in the money order) ethically, NO because in downloading it you are supporting the site that distributes the pirated data. However if the dead-tree copy of the book is out of print due to lack of profit from its printing then a version of the same book that is weightless in data form is a better alternative, but where you can legally get a copy of out of print books is the part that causes people to illegally download data.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:06 am
I would send the author a letter and ask her these questions, though getting the pirated copies and mailing her money is pretty reasonable. I think we should obey the spirit of the law, not the letter.
I’m 49 so I guess I’m a baby boomer.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Oops,
late 20s
November 30th, 2008 at 12:09 am
If the author/publisher isn’t interested in making the book available for consumers in a given medium, then they’re apparently not interested in making any money from that medium. I will very gladly pirate when the copyright holder does not and will not make DRM-free versions available in the format I need to use. I won’t send them money in that case. I am their customer, if they want my money, they will -make the product I want the way I want it-.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:14 am
I like the idea of directly paying the author. But it isn’t always easy, I’ve tried. I would be great if there was a national clearing house for these kinds things (authors and musicians).
BTW, I just read a little “please buy my book” notice on John Varley’s website. He points out that he gets 93 cents on each sale of a newly republished series. I didn’t really mind paying retail ($8.00) for the books, but I’d much rather have paid him like $3.00 directly for an e-book.
Boomer (old guy, dead soon).
November 30th, 2008 at 12:14 am
There are two questions here:
Legally, option 1 (buying a used copy and lugging it around) is probably your only legitimate option. Option 2 (buying a used copy, and scanning it yourself) can be seen as legitimate as format-changing audio materials — transfering your LPs to cassette, for instance — which is seen as legit by many. Option 3 (buying a used copy, downloading an electronic copy) starts to bend the the boundaries of legitimacy.
As far as giving a royalty to the author (or to the publisher) for an illegal copy, I don’t see that as reasonable. As others have pointed out, there may be problems with sending the author a royalty check, and the publishers have chosen to forgo further payments by not printing further copies of the book.
The optimal solution would be for the publisher to release an ebook version themselves. The best way to accomplish this would be to send them a physical letter asking for it, pointing out a legitimate demand for the product. It is entirely possible that they would ignore your request, or take a long time in generating it.
With that request, I see it as similar to anime fansubbing — using a pirated version in a format convenient to you until such time as a legitimate version is available. Just make sure that when the ebook is published, you buy it.
As for my age… when I started college, my high-tech college of 10,000 was connected to NSFNet (or ARPANet, I’m not sure which one) by a single 9600baud synchronous modem — fast! At age 18, I downloaded the entire compressed source (5MB) of GNU Emacs 18 onto my PC.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:14 am
There’s a fundamental mind shift that the industries that rely on copyright have yet to really truly in their hearts make. That is that in order to survive in the modern world they need to make access ubiquitous. By that I mean easy to purchase their product, in a flexible way for consumers at a reasonable price. Many industries - publishing, movies, music, currently have at their heart the idea that scarcity brings the dollars (ie. limit access - be controlling etc about how, when, where people can access their content) but the revolution at the moment shows that making it easy to purchase and give money to the copyright owners actually solves the piracy problem.
This blog post is a classic example of this - the publisher prefers to have no mechanism to earn money for a product or “right-to-use” even though the consumer is willing to provide reasonable recompense for the work. In this case the publisher could accept just money for the “right-to-use” and not actually have any cost associated with distribution as the consumer has sourced it already.
It’s insane.
The copyright doctrine should be altered so that in the case where there is refusal to supply at least a “right-to-use” for essentially a “dead work” (one that is no longer and will never be published again) should make null and void any attempt to sue the consumer for copyright infringement to encourage ubiquity of supply.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:19 am
I’d like to add another perspective to the conversation if you don’t mind. I live in a country, in the developing world as they call it, where I do not have access (because of currency control regulations) to an international credit card to pay for my online purchases, regardless of actual (and relevant) purchasing power considerations. I am effectively locked out of any legal “send her money” option, so only your last option is available to me, downloading the e-copy for free and reading it.
I simply ask the question : what moral justifications can exist to deprive part of humankind from the work of any writer because some publishing business didn’t see a lucrative investment opportunity in my area of the world ?
The missing part in current copyright law, in my opinion, is the realistic (no more than 5 years) expiration date when all literature IP works fall automatically in the public realm such as a creative common license.
I understand writers need and deserve to make a decent living out of their occupation, but I fail to understand why business decisions should rule out the availability of out-of-print books to less fortunate people that were never part of the original target market to beign with.
A question to tytso, Eric and any other french speaking reader, isn’t evey copy of every bok published in France put in the “Bibiliotheque nationale”, the national library that is freely available to anyone wishing to read it on the premises ?
Some demographic info on me: I’m 32, french and arabic native speaker, read all of my english literature online and illegally I guess. I’m trying to learn spanish these days, but again access to books is an issue.
Cheers
November 30th, 2008 at 12:27 am
When dealing with fair use and how it can be extended in the Internet era one might first look at the concept of the library. Here books are available for free access, not for purchase or rental. Books include the most recent best sellers as well as a significant percentage of out-of-print books. Libraries co-exist with bookstores harmoniously. They have not put them or book publishers (from whom they specifically purchase a single copy for the purpose of sharing with many) out of business and it does not harm writers . Most important, libraries are considered fair use under copyright law. This includes not just the delivery of print media, but film and music as well.
One could make a compelling argument that the sharing of electronic versions of books by the online community creates, in spirit, a form of library, at least when no money changes hands. With regards to out-of-print books, it arguably performs a public service by making available what is no longer available, because the pragmatic commercial lifespan of that book has passed.
Copyright law has provisions that allow for free access. The problem is copyright law has yet to clarify where and how fair use will apply to the online world (though the courts are struggling through contradicting interpretations and precedents using existing law). A publisher can call you a thief, but without the parameters of fair use defined for the Internet that statement can not truly be morally or ethically correct. Likewise, for what ever actions you decide to take.
In answer to your question, I favor the free electronic distribution of out-of-print works as they have a cultural value that goes beyond their ability to generate a buck. The argument that artists will stop creating works if they don’t get paid is a corrupt one; Kafka never saw a publisher’s check in his lifetime. Ten’s of thousands of books each year are published and no one person can buy them all. If free access to out-of-print works create fans who buy an author’s future works then that monetizes the action. Unfortunately, it doesn’t answer the question of if it is right or wrong.
But it is good business and ultimately that is the opportunity the keepers of copyright seem to be missing. Until Congress comes through or until publishers and consumer find a satisfying middle ground you will have to choose with your heart.
P.S. Baby Boomer
November 30th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Ethics? Well the publisher is using the law to force the consumer to work on their terms. They are taking advantage of the consumer. As far as I am concern they are the first to toss ethics out the door. Why should the consumer follow ethics if the publisher does not?
Generation X
November 30th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Depending on how long it’s been out of print, option 2 or 5.
An author should not receive royalties for everything they create, for eternity. This attitude only *discourages* authors from creating new works by encouraging them to rest on the laurels of their old ones.
Copyright should last as long as patents last, or less: 17 years (and only to that long if extended). Beyond that, their creation now belongs to the culture that inspired it in the first place, and should be free.
By choosing option 5, you choose to resist the insane copyright laws that are leaching our culture out from under us. (And yes, I mean leach…http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Aleach)
I’m 33.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:43 am
I’m 27 (will be 28 in 3 days). I don’t know what that makes me, but I think it’s Gen X.
I say download the book and send the money (electronically, if you can). It’s silly to get the book if you don’t need to use it.
You might consider sending some money to the publisher, too. You could send the whole cost of the book to the author, but it could be argued that the publisher had a role in making the book widely available (the pirated e-book was probably transcribed from a dead tree version) and played some role in increasing the fame and reach of the author, else you may never have heard of her.
You can also E-Mail/snail mail the author and ask what she would like. If you’re looking for a general purpose solution, though, I would say download it and send money.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Write the author.
Buy the used book.
Pack less stuff when traveling.
Practice patience.
You don’t really need it.
Age 32
November 30th, 2008 at 12:49 am
I am wondering what the title of the book is.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:52 am
I am either a 1.o version of a Gen X or more likely a late beta version.
I look at this and wonder . . . why?
The author does not care. The publisher does not care.
No one seems to care about this book. This is why books should go into public domain after about 10 years of no publishing.
If they really wanted a published version there would be one. Oh yeah and having it on the Kindle only does not count.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:52 am
The perceived problem stems from a concern for property rights. These are rights that we as a society have ceded to the author and publisher.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright
The Copyright Clause of the United States Constitution (1787) authorized copyright legislation: “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” That is, by guaranteeing them a period of time in which they alone could profit from their works, they would be enabled and encouraged to invest the time required to create them, and this would be good for society as a whole.
Are authors “encouraged to invest the time required to create”? Clearly the answer to this question is YES.
The fly in the ointment here is “limited Times”. Most books do not have the luxury of a second or third printing. The _only_ way to get them is _used_. How is this situation “good for society as a whole.”?
I asked a college professor once what were the best books for the study of optics. He said that all the best books were long out of print. “Some ideas”, he said, “can be explained in a limited number of ways, and the best explanations have already been used.” The choice is then between plagiarism, copyright infringement, or use of a lesser work. Respect for the law gives us the latter.
The answer is simple. There is no moral dilemma. You just use the pirate version of the book on your ebook machine. You don’t worry about paying the author or the publisher. If the publisher/author thought there was a market for it the book would be in print and then the question would be a different one.
November 30th, 2008 at 12:54 am
#1 is obviously OK, as that’s the point of the book
#2 is a clear case of fair use as long as you don’t distribute it
#3 is where things start getting gray. My position is that YOU would be in the right as for you the result is the same as #2, just faster and perhaps better quality if you assume the person/group who initially released it was experienced. Obviously the releaser and those distributing it are legally in the wrong. I personally do this all the time when I get a new CD or movie. I have a fast internet connection, so for the most part it takes me longer to remove the disc from its case and rip it than it would take to download. On top of that, the internet copy tends to be higher quality than what I’d end up with since the people releasing this sort of content on the internet do it all the time. In the case of HD-DVD content it would take ages to transcode on my aging desktop and as for Blu-Ray unless something’s changed with the PS3 I don’t even have a way to back it up myself.
#4 is very gray. I don’t think I’d have any moral concerns with it, but from a legal perspective #3 was reasonably safe where #4 is clearly illegal. Given the choice if there was an easy way to do so, I’d probably choose #4 over buying the book used though. As you say, the author wins, no one loses, it seems to be a net positive.
#5 is straight out wrong both morally and legally IF the original author is reachable for option 4. If not, I say heck with it. If the copyright holder won’t publish it and the real author can’t be reached I don’t have any qualms about pirating it. I can’t say that’s ever happened to me though.
November 30th, 2008 at 1:02 am
Oh yea, 22, whatever generation that puts me in…
November 30th, 2008 at 1:05 am
If you can’t purchase it in a manner which allows the author to be compensated, then how can it be piracy. No matter how you acquire the product at this point neither the author nor the publisher is going to be getting any money from you. So I can’t see how this is piracy. However if you so enjoy the work that you would like to reward the author, then send her some money.
Personally I like dead trees, so I would find the book somewhere.
Tail end of the boomers.
November 30th, 2008 at 1:23 am
It seems to me that out-of-print should imply out-of-copyright. Once publishers have effectively orphaned their works by making them impossible to obtain, they’ve lost any possible moral argument about a lost sale.
November 30th, 2008 at 1:31 am
If your decision on ethical behavior is decided by knowing who the author/publisher is versus not, I don’t understand your concept of “ethical”. There is no ethical motive as to whether or not someone should profit from an action or information. Ethical behaviour, when speaking about US Copyrights is inherently oxymoronic. You obtain the copy in the form that is easiest for you to use or can easily convert to your preferred form.
‘Jerry Pournelle has indignantly proclaimed that e-piracy goes against a “specific (and very stern) Biblical injunction against stealing from widows and orphans”.’ is a proclamation with a specific bias, not solid reasoning. Information is not something that a specific entity has a right to dole out. This is a fact of pragmatism for humanity. Your specific feelings about what is important determine what’s ethical and moral, not a treatise on Judeo-Christian fable.
Gen X
November 30th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Just use the pirated version, the author is not missing out on something they no longer produce.
~Dan
November 30th, 2008 at 1:36 am
Get the “pirate” copy and send money to the author.
The author wins - resale of used book normally does not give another royalty to author.
The environment wins - no carbon to ship/copy used copy of book.
The reader wins - can read desired material out of print in preferred electronic format.
The publisher wins - not hassled by repeated requests for reprinting.
Society wins because the original intent of copyright is fulfilled (recognizing author work with appropriate payment) — indeed recognizes the authors work over and over without need to dead tree republish.
War Baby (born 1942)
November 30th, 2008 at 1:45 am
Personally I would just download the pirated e-book version and send the author money if I actually enjoyed the book.
I do the same thing with movies, if I really like the movie I’ll buy it or go see it with friends. This just seems the most logical to me, if I don’t enjoy it, why in the world would I want to pay for it? Trailers are misleading, book summaries are never enough, I would prefer to sample it in it’s entirety before paying instead of giving monetary support to a book/movie that I did not enjoy.
Generation Y
November 30th, 2008 at 1:53 am
If you’re considering CO2 emissions, you’re obviously considering much vaguer implications than I would. Here’s something you didn’t consider — if you buy the book, you’re helping establish a market for used books, which increases the value of a new book. I’d certainly be much more willing to buy a brand-new hardcover, knowing I can sell it again soon.
That said, I would probably just pirate it. My justification is this: Piracy involves a bit of practical risk. I might get caught, and have to pay large fines. In the case of games, I might download a trojan. In any case, there is an opportunity here for the legitimate item to be a better product, money notwithstanding.
I am willing to spend money doing the right thing. I am not, however, willing to spend time. The publisher hasn’t given you the opportunity to do things the way you want, so do it yourself. I see nothing wrong with sending her a check, but I don’t think that’s required, and if you really wanted to set it right, you’d have to write a few more checks. Although I play devil’s advocate above, I don’t think you need to buy the used book, unless you want to give it to a less ebook-friendly person as a gift.
A similar example, which I frequently am criticized for, is my stance on DRM: If a game is DRM’d to the point where it would DAMAGE MY SYSTEM to install it, I refuse to pay for the privilege of cracking it anyway (which is illegal). Occasionally, a game is good enough that I’ll pirate it anyway. Usually, I’ll just wait and spend my time (and money) on a game that gets it right, or at least close enough.
No idea where we’re drawing generational lines these days… I’m 21.
November 30th, 2008 at 1:59 am
You should certainly download a pirate copy either way. It’s frankly ridiculous to spend hours of your time converting the book you may or may not end up purchasing into the format you want, when somebody else has already done it for you.
Additionally, the way I figure it, you may as well just pirate the book outright. Used book sales ensure that nobody save for the reseller sees any monetary kickback from it. You might quite rightly ask why someone who paid good money to resell a book ought to be excluded from any profit on their investment. I would respond that purchasing anything for the express purpose of reselling it is an investment, just like the stock market, and that nobody ought to be guaranteed the return they want on any investment. You shouldn’t feel morally obliged to purchase something being resold; anyone who had any actual creative input on the item in question has already had their cut, and that’s really the only important part.
Additionally, if you buy a book you know you’re not going to use in paper form, that’s also one less book for someone who might actually want a paper book to read. This is perhaps less important, but the book’s out of print. Scarcity is an issue here. A weak argument it is, but there’s still perhaps something to be said for leaving the series out there for someone else to enjoy who’d give the paper book a good home.
Finally, if you really do like the book, and figure the author deserves some of your money for it, go ahead and send that money order. I tend to do much the same thing, whenever I pirate something I end up liking. Everybody wins that way.
Demographically, I’m Generation Y.
November 30th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Nobody is gaining anything from the used book except the person selling it and the person receiving it.
If it gives you warm fuzzies, send a check to the author, but the author wasn’t going to see any $$$ from the used book sale anyways.
I say download it and forget it. I’m beginning to think that books which go out of print should enter the public domain anyway.
21 years old, so Gen Y?
November 30th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Lots of moral posturing here. I suspect that in reality, if most of these folks were in the situation you describe they would just download the pirated text and enjoy it, knowing no one has been hurt. Also, many of the readers of the pirated text are likely to go buy something in-print if they like the author. In addition, if they like the author, they will speak about him/her and thus are also likely to give the author free publicity.
I am 69. Do I get a prize (of a pirated out of print ebook) for being the oldest responder?
November 30th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Excellently asked question and some thoughtful answers.
Let me dispose of your suggested options quickly:
(1) Dead tree only. This is the “most legal” but least satisfying path for you. Zero value to author.
(2) Dead tree and scan. Just as legal, but very labor intensive. Still Zero value to author.
(3) Dead tree and pirate. Questionable legality, but it “feels” more right than just a pirate copy. Still os zero value to author.
(4) Dead tree, pirate and money to author. Still questionable legality, good gut feel, author rewarded for providing pleasure.
(5) Pirate. Not legal, but has no affect on author one way or the other.
I’ve been in a similar position and for me personally I greatly prefer a variation of 5-6.
In my case I was unable to find a reasonably priced dead tree copy of an out of print tome I was after, but did find pirated.
I wrote the author a polite letter expressing my distress at not being able to find a hard copy, my joy in finally at least finding an electronic copy, and my pleasure in reading it. I included the full new cost of the book when originally published as a “gift” to the author, assured him I expected nothing further for the gift, and wished him well.
Expanding out a little…
In those cases where both pirated e-book and legit new or used book are available to me, I buy the hard copy and use the e-book. (No different to me morally than having someone else do the work of converting MY copy to a different format.)
On a number of occasions where the author has both a published hard copy AND a legitimate free electronic copy available (yes, some have done that) I read the electronic AND buy the book. (First one I did that with was by Larry Niven, and I’ve since done it with others.)
Oh! Some may notice that I do not pay the publisher anything in most cases. That’s on purpose. Not only was the author the person who created what I want, the publisher is the one who had quit publishing or stocking the book I feel I owe them nothing for that. Legally a poor position, but… *shrug*
I fit in the “Old Fart” group, just barely ahead of the boomers, born just before WWII ended.
November 30th, 2008 at 2:13 am
You’re asking about morality, not legality. The only purely legal thing you can probably do is just buy the paper copy used, and read it that way. While many feel that it is ‘ok’ to download a pirated e-text of a book you already own, in the United States at least this is very much a grey area and publishers have quite conspicuously disagreed with this theory. In other words, you would still be sued if it were worth the legal fees (which it probably isn’t, but that’s another issue, the ‘can-you-get-away-with-it issue, which is certainly yes.)
Now to the moral issue, which IMO is the only important one. Morality is about what people deserve, and you can’t analyse what they deserve until you analyse what they’ve done to deserve it. So here’s what all the players involved did. An author wrote a book. That’s good, and deserves compensation. Then that author sold all right to that compensation (or at least the right to receive and distribute royalty) to a publishing house. The publisher paid money for this, and it was (presumably) a deal both parties entered into with full knowledge. Therefore, the publisher now deserves whatever the author would normally deserve. However, the publisher is no longer willing to accept this cash. Instead the publisher is exercising the ‘right’ of an owner of a work not to publish it.
Do you think it is moral for a publisher to use the rights received in such a deal, to suppress a work on the author’s behalf? I don’t. Very likely, the author doesn’t feel fairly dealt with either (put yourself in their shoes, as a moral experiment). Nothing illegal has happened, but I believe it’s pretty clear that something immoral has already happened. The publisher paid for the right to publish a book and is now (to the extent that they would sue you or try to claim that right upon e-text downloaders) using that right NOT to publish it.
What do they deserve for THAT? I think they deserve some kind of moral punishment for it — a comeuppance. In fact, I think such publishers deserve a public shaming for not automatically giving the rights to books they no longer care about back to the author, or releasing them into the public domain or at the very least putting out the word that etext distribution is authorised. It may be quite difficult to prosecute this shaming in the current cultural environment; however, the very *least*, most restrained, most conservative punishment the publisher deserves, which takes on the character of perfect ‘poetic justice’ and no more and no less, is to have the work pirated with no compensation.
And that’s exactly what I suggest you do, with a clear conscience. So, option 5. DEFINITELY option 5.
If you want to also send the author some cash, by all means, but keep in mind that since the author’s rights have already been relinquished in full foreknowledge of a deal that would inevitably be dead-ended, giving the author money at this point, is an act of *charity* and *gratitude*, not *desert*. And I would suggest that you identify neither yourself nor the novel you are expressing ‘gratitude’ for.
November 30th, 2008 at 2:15 am
BTW I am 39 years old.
November 30th, 2008 at 2:17 am
Download the book, and send money