Guest Blogger: Author Ginger Simpson

Piracy: A Thin Line

Pirating e-books is a hot topic on the Yahoo loops these days. More and more sites are cropping up, offering free PDF downloads or shared files in lit, doc, HTML, Mobi, HiBook, eRocket, and other formats. Authors are taking this so seriously that they've formed groups to help find solutions, recognize possible offensive sites, and make their peers aware that no one is safe from having their work illegally sold.

A short time ago, I discussed on my own blog, my confusion about what makes a pirate a pirate. For years, I saved paperback books I'd read, then sold them at yard sales without a thought to the author who penned the novel. Did this make me a pirate? My family and friends have shared paperbacks for years. Were we breaking laws? My understanding is that if you purchase a book, you can do anything except have it reprinted or write it again and claim it as your own work. Then you've gotten into plagiarizing, a totally different kettle of fish.

I didn't see any difference between my selling the books as opposed to the myriad of used book stores who have done the same for years. I didn't distinguish a difference between checking out a book at the local library from my loaning out a book to a friend. It's human nature to share, but should we feel guilty because we are cheating an author out of revenue? Funny how one's perception can change once they start writing.

I haven't read much about this issue at the mainstream level. I believe those authors are less likely to be concerned unless the pirating is done on a major scale. They receive royalty checks, enjoy promotional help, and realize recognition as truly being an "author." Things are vastly different in e-publishing. The recognition is coming, but it's taking baby steps. Very few e-publishing companies pay royalties (I haven't been fortunate enough to find one), the majority of promotion is done at the author's expense, and our books are rarely found in real "brick and mortar" stores because our publishers don't have the budget or accommodations to do mass market printings. "Print on Demand" books are much more costly, thus harder to sell in an economy where people have cut back on their spending. So why do Print on Demand, you ask? Because the saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" is especially true when trying to convince readers to read on their computer over actually holding a book in their hands. We're making progress, but still...baby steps.

The return on our investment is minimal, so when you add in people who think it is perfectly all right to offer our work for sale without sharing the profit with us, it becomes downright maddening. BUT... It's also a problem I doubt we can combat. File sharing has been a nightmare for the music and video industry for years, and now e-books are joining the ranks. I'm not sure which bothers me most...file sharing sites where you can request books of your choice at no charge, or those who actually offer the book for sale. A perverted side of me finds it gratifying that any of my work would be so coveted.

Still, the fact remains that piracy is a very real problem, but there is a thin line between what is legal and what isn't. Someone asked, "Where are the copyright police?" Most authors pay to have a registered copyright to protect their books, but I'm wondering if the line is so blurred even The Library of Congress can't determine the differences. Many of these sites operate from abroad and are out of the scope of punishment, if even caught.

The Internet provides endless possibilities for dishonesty, as we've seen with scams, viruses, and harassment. Identify and expose one site, and they change names and move to another IP address. Resolving this problem seems to be to be as difficult as searching for someone in London fog. Still, as I mentioned, some authors are really intent on shutting down these pirating sites. I don't even know where to start in the battle, so I'll bow to those more prepared to win the war and sit on the sidelines and cheer them on. Might not sound like I'm taking a proactive stance, but I'm more concerned with the fate of our country than I am with my royalty checks. Whether I can buy one Happy Meal or two at this point, doesn't really make a big difference. Now, if I were Nora Roberts...

Ginger Simpson

Web site:
http://www.gingersimpson.com

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(Note: Guest blog posts reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of RT Book Reviews.)