Just another thought…I’ve seen comments online that sharing ebooks, uploading them for others to download, is “not stealing!” and OMG YER SO MEAAAAAN FOOR NOT LETTING US DOOOO IT! As well as a plethora of other ignorant and misinformed and generally moronic comments, including “what? you mean I can’t make copies of this and send it out to all my friends because I love it? How dare you, mean author! How dare you!”
Look, if you can’t figure out the difference between sharing a single copy of a book and making it so that hundreds or thousands of people can have that same book, all at the same time, without paying for it, you’re a jerk, a douche and a fucktard, and frankly, I don’t want you reading my books because anyone who claims to “love” me wouldn’t steal from me.
And I cherish the readers who understand it is wrong and douchtastic to steal books, and that if it continues there will be many authors who are unable to continue writing the books you all love.
So I want to say thank you to the readers who DO get it, who don’t steal, the ones who understand that we’re not some superhuman millionaires sitting in our mansions and tossing off a book every now and then in between pedicures and saving the world. Really. I got kids to feed, just like many of you. I have bills to pay, too. I have to be able to afford to write — which means I need to be paid for my work. No money = no staying home to write books. No money = Megan gets a job at Walmart to make ends meet = no books for you to read.
(Yes, some people might cheer that I wouldn’t be writing more books, but oh well. Even those people who don’t like *me* have authors they *do* like and the situation is the same for them, as well.)
So…I have a favor to ask of you, dear readers. Please don’t patronize those download sites, but if you DO see a place offering books for download– flag copyrighted materials being offered. Complain to the sites themselves. Report blogs. Comment to the entries with exactly why it’s wrong to offer ebooks for illegal download. In some cases you’ll genuinely be informing a person who doesn’t know — in others you’ll just be pissing off a self-righteous twit who will scream “BUT YER BEING MEAAAAAAN TO ME AND OMG IT IS SO NOT STEALING AND YOU JUST SHUT UP!” But…I ask that you do not shut up.
Don’t be nasty, don’t be mean. Don’t get into trouble by using threats.
But don’t stop pointing out that it’s wrong, and the person who’s doing it is wrong, and they should stop. And educate your friends about why it’s wrong. Report it when you see it, and make an effort to close it down. (You often can’t actually request content be removed unless you are the copyright holder, unfortunately, but RWA and Harlequin both have places to report piracy of their materials, and probably other publishers do, too.)
And thank you for your efforts.
M
Please don’t go to Wal-Mart! I wish people would realize that uploading wasn’t the same as sharing. You share with your friend and she shares right back with you.
Maybe you need to have a direct donation site right on your page: support Megan Hart by contributing to her medical insurance… use PayPal now.
If these fucktards are so computer savvy, they couldn’t have missed all the ebay auctions for Jo Leigh!
by lee December 17th, 2008 at 2:26 amI’ve never personally come across an ebook piracy site until this evening (or morning, rather) and was wondering, is there anything that can be done besides informing authors? Is there some place to report these people for e-piracy?
by catie December 18th, 2008 at 5:56 amWoops…just rereading the post and saw the last paragraph. Sorry, it’s been a couple of days since I read this entry. My bad.
by catie December 18th, 2008 at 5:58 amDoes this go for audio books as well? I mean I just bought dirty from Itunes (I have the book, I read the book, I LOVE the book.) and I want to send it to my friend as a gift, but I absolutely WILL NOT do it if this means that I am stealing. I do want her to read/listen to the story because I think it’s beautiful, and to be honest I don’t want to send her my book because who knows when I’ll get it back. So that’s just what I am wondering!
by Sara December 30th, 2008 at 10:08 pm@Sara: …well, technically — if you send your friend the audio file (in .mp3 or whatever it’s in) and you still have the file left on your computer, what you’ve done is made a copy of the original file. Now there are two. So…yes, that’s illegal. It’s not nearly on the same level as uploading it to a torrent site so thousands of people can download it, but yes, if you send it to your friend and keep the original for yourself, therefore ending up with TWO where there was only one…that’s illegal. (not exactly piracy because you’re not giving away dozens, but still not allowed.)
However — if you buy something from iTunes you can usually play it on up to five devices — this might include audiobooks. (I mean, you could send it to your friend and she might not be able to play it anyway because it’s not allowed on her computer or whatever!)
And also, if you send it to your friend and delete it permanently from your iTunes library, thus ending up with only one, then it’s also okay.
But thank you for asking. It’s confusing, I know, but I do appreciate that you even thought about it! And like I said, you giving one to your friend is way different than uploading it to a site for lots of folks to download, or sending it to everyone you know. And obviously, sharing a paper book is always fine!
M
by Megan Hart December 30th, 2008 at 10:17 pm