There is a lot of talk about piracy lately. It is pervasive, and affects every product and service known. Pretty much any form of intellectual property is subject to piracy: books, software, movies, and music.
Sometimes the piracy is directly related to
scarcity; such as the television show “Game of Thrones”, where HBO only
allows subscribers to view it, or you have to purchase a copy. Many
people, like myself, want to watch it, but are not willing to plunk down
$50 for each season without REALLY wanting to watch it repeatedly.
Others pirate because they don’t like the idea of someone getting rich
off their hard-earned cash. They envision authors, actors, musicians,
and the nameless leech-like executives (that suckle off the teat of the
consumer) rolling around vaults of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck. The
vast majority of people pirate because they feel that they shouldn’t
have to pay for something that they can get free. Unfortunately, every
action has its consequence, and piracy is no exception.
To protect their investment, content producers
(i.e. movie studios, record companies, publishers, authors, musicians,
actors, and video game makers) have resorted to draconian methods and
tactics. DRM, SOPA, PIPA, DMCA, and ACTA are just a few of the acronyms
that we have been forced to deal with in an effort to combat piracy.
Every single one of these efforts has broad unintended consequences that
do nothing more than hinder the free exchange of ideas, and stifle
creativity.
What kind of piracy are we talking about? Is
it Oliver Wendell Jones shouting at his computer “Avast! ye scurvy
corporate swabs! Prepare to be boarded!”? No. It is taking material
that doesn’t belong to you, and either giving it away, or selling it for
a profit without compensating the original creator.
I once saw a description on YouTube that
stated that the poster wanted more content so they could make money from
Google ads. This person was quite honest that they didn’t create the
video in question, but felt that somehow the creators OWED they for
making something they enjoyed. This made me angry. Not because I had
anything to do with making the video in question, but that someone who
had put NO effort into producing the finished product felt that, they
should enjoy the profits of other people’s labor. Even the hacking
group Anonymous took issue when someone ripped videos off their YouTube
channel, and made money selling ads to view it on a similar sounding
channel.
What bothers me is not someone enjoying my
work without giving me a dime, but there are other people trying to make
money on something they had absolutely NO help in creating. Although I
work very hard, and put in thousands of hours to complete a single
novel, I am not the only one involved. My wife put in just as much time
as I do, as well as my daughters. Everyone worked to make this the
best it could possibly be. We looked for continuity problems,
grammatical errors, plot holes, character consistency, and scrutinized
every word to come up with something that would be pleasurable to read.
Many self-published authors are satisfied with
their first draft, and put it out to the public without any regard for
spelling, punctuation, grammar, plot, story, or consistency. Many books
(movies and TV shows) that DO have traditional publishers lack
imagination, or discernible plot, and are replete with continuity
errors. I read some books, and wonder how in the world these
monstrosities ever got to a printing press. I have done my very best to
make my books, and stories the best they can be. Are they perfect?
No, but they are as good as I can make them.
If you enjoy my writing, and want to continue
to progress along the story line; I have to be able to produce them.
Long story short: I have bills (just like you). I can’t barter for my
phone, mortgage, taxes, gas, car, or children needing medical care. I
have to pay cash. The only way to do that is to work, very hard. Even
with a steady job, something always demands more of my hard-earned
money. I am not the only author in this position. Only a select few
(authors, actors, artists, etc.) make enough money that they can quit
their 9 to 5 jobs and create full-time. Ask any author who belongs to
the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and they will tell
you that they don’t make much money from writing. They do it because
they enjoy it. Most are happy to find a modest paycheck in the mail for
their efforts, but some don’t even make back their advance.
For those who chose the self-publish route,
the idea is quantity over quality. The more books you have, the more
money you make. It doesn’t matter if the books make little sense, and
have horrible writing. Sell them for 99¢ and people will not mind
paying for something that took almost no effort to create. I will not,
cannot abide that mentality.
I feel that you get what you pay for, and most
publishers ask for more than they deserve. When you purchase a J.K.
Rowling book, you pay for the publisher’s cost (including paper, ink,
illustrators, editors, typesetters, printers, and profit) as well as the
author’s agent (usually 15-20%) and finally the writer (who might get
as little as 10-20% of the book price. My books aren’t cheap, but they
aren’t expensive (like those sold by major publishers). I have taken on
all the expenses of the publishers, and still have people who (for some
silly reason) expect to be paid for their hard work. They deserve to
be paid. That is only possible if people pay for the book.
I don’t charge an exorbitant price to read my
book (either in physical, or ebook form), but I don’t want people to
think it’s some cheap pulp fiction novel plopped together in an
afternoon, and spammed its way to profit. I only ask that a fair price
be paid, so I can continue to make these stories available. It is a LOT
of work to get a decent book published. There are many expenses,
(usually assumed by publishers) which I have had to accept in order to
get the book into your hands. It has to be worth it to me to continue
to publish the stories I have, or I think my efforts (and money) would
be better spent on other things.
Piracy takes the financial incentive away, and
makes it a liability. It is stealing. It is taking my precious time,
energy, effort, creativity, and money. Whatever justification is used
to reconcile the need to get something free or even profit from my work
is only an illusion. If you were to reverse the situation, things would
be different. If you spent years working on something, spending
thousands of hours on it, investing your passion and soul into crafting
it; only to have someone else take it (or worse: take credit for it).
You would be outraged (to put it mildly).
What I’m asking for isn’t much. The cost of
the novels isn’t outlandish, and barely covers my expenses. I’m not
being a giant douche and sticking DRM all over it. I’m asking you to be
a decent person, because I’m being decent to you. I probably don’t
even know you. I am asking you (politely) to allow me to continue to
share my hobby with you. That isn’t too much to ask. It isn’t
unreasonable. It is only asking a fair price for quality.
You might not like my writing, or enjoy
Science Fiction or Fantasy (not everyone does). If that is the case,
don’t buy my books, but please don’t think that piracy isn’t a
victimless crime without consequences. SOPA might not have passed, but
that doesn’t mean that laws like it are going away. As long as people
pirate, there will be companies trying to punish that activity,
regardless of the unintended consequences. Don’t give them the
ammunition they need to make something as simple as reading a book a
living nightmare. If you don’t believe me, ask the Swedish woman who
had her Kindle turned into a brick, and all her lawful purchases
annulled because she was suspected of piracy, or the Hugo awards
presentation that was effectively shut down by DRMbots that determined
copyrighted material was being used without explicit permission (which
they had).
One of the main themes of DARK ESCAPE is that
actions have consequences. Think to yourself; is this inexpensive book
really worth ruining everyone’s enjoyment over the long run? The answer
you’re looking for is - no, it isn’t
No comments:
Post a Comment