Book piracy and what it costs

[B.R.Stateham]

Found this interesting article on Publisher Weekly's webesite. Sounds like a growing problem for everyone

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6714772.html?desc=topstory

[I. J. Parker]

Yes, well, we seem to be dealing ith young people (students) here and the subject matter smacks of downloads to fullfill assignments. You can argue that these young people have become so accustomed to downloading stuff for free because they've grown up on music downloads. The fact that fiction plays a smaller part doesn't necessarily mean that it will always do so. What happens when the young geniuses graduate?

My personal take on this is that textbook authors generally benefit mostly from professional advancement when they publish. In other words, they get their income through their jobs. Authors of fiction are not at all in the same category.

And another thought: since publishers get the lion's share of each sale, they should be ones guarding the store. But it's predictable that they'll consider a fight too expensive, and the damage will end up with the author again.

[John Dishon]

You can read the report here[PDF]

The important part, in my opinion, comes at the end:

"This study does not attempt to address the issue of determining to what degree pirated books represent financial loss to the industry as it does not estimate how many free downloads might have otherwise resulted in a sale. In other words, this study does not attempt to answer the question, “How many of these pirated books would have been purchased legally if piracy was not an option?” Previous studies assume a one-to-one substitution, meaning all pirated material would have been purchased and thus the market value of pirated books is equal to the actual loss, though Attributor feels this is an overly optimistic assumption.3 This issue will be addressed in a future research phase."

This is the point that so many still fail to understand: that a download does not equal a lost sale. There are people who download things who would never have paid money for it anyway, and would have just done without if a free option were not available. Until we have data on how many people like that there are, we will never have an accurate understanding of the true impact of book piracy on sales, or other areas related to the industry.

[B.R.Stateham]

John--how does a free download not hurt the industry? If I was a student and had to buy a textbook for a class that cost, say, $85--but instead decided to get a download for free-- how did that not hurt the publisher and author?

If an author's book that is currently on the market has a pirated copy available on the 'net downloadable for free, it frankly has to hurt in the long run.

[John McFetridge]

A couple of things here. John's statement could maybe be, "a download does not ALWAYS equal a lost sale." The feeling is that very, very few of the people who download the free book would have otherwise spent the money to buy it.

A lot of classic novels are available for free download legally now and yet those books are still sold in bookstores.

When a publisher is pushing a book they give away a lot of free copies. The rumour about The Da Vinci Code was that there were thousands of ARCs given away for free. More free ARCs doesn't mean fewer sales.

Maybe the best example we have is Cory Doctorow who shows that having books available for free download has increased sales. Of course, young adult sci fi may have a very different market than adult crime fiction, but so far it's about the only example we have.

This may be an interim stage and someday there may not be people willing to pay for books. If that becomes the case then, as IJ says, academic texts will have to generate income in other ways and who knows, if there's still demand that may be the case for fiction, too. More arts grants, more fully tax-deductable donations from coprorations and individuals - kind of the PBS model.

Of course, this 'freely distributed content to all,' is quite a Marxist idea, but the young internet crowd seem fine with that.

[John Dishon]

"A couple of things here. John's statement could maybe be, 'a download does not ALWAYS equal a lost sale.'"

Yes. It shouldn't need further explanation.. We all know what equal means don't we? A download may mean a lost sale, and often does, but a download also might not mean a lost sale, and that too is sometimes the case. I even went on to explain what I meant in the very next sentence: "There are people who download things who would never have paid money for it anyway, and would have just done without if a free option were not available." I don't know how I can make myself more clear.

"The feeling is that very, very few of the people who download the free book would have otherwise spent the money to buy it."

I want facts, not feelings. Until we have the data I described above, we're not seeing the whole picture.

[John McFetridge]

Unfortunately we can never have as a fact what someone "would have" done.

[John Dishon]

The situation you describe is accurate, I would say. But you're talking about a person who is required to have a book; therefore, if a free option is not available, the person is forced to either buy the book or borrow it, or else do without and suffer the consequences. But that's not the only situation that exists.

[I. J. Parker]

One of the problems is that piracy web sites advertise titles available. In other words, people who want to read a book and likely would have bought it go there to get it free. So it's no longer a matter of "Hey, it costs nothing, so I'll read it," but rather "Hey, I meant to get it from Amazon but why bother if I can get it free here." And don't overlook word-of-mouth advertising for these sites.

[Eric Christopherson]

I really don't care so much than one pirated download doesn't equal one lost sale. I care more that piracy is illegal and immoral.

[Jude Hardin]

I'll know I've made it when people start stealing my stuff.

[B.R.Stateham]

Actually I think the article's first paragraph is more accurate. The number, 3 billion dollars, sticks out like a sore thumb.

[Suzanne]

As shown in the paper, fiction is downloaded much less frequently than technical or reference publications. The reason, I think, is that reading for pleasure is a different sort of activity than reading for work/study. I don't enjoy reading fiction at my desk; I mostly read fiction in bed or on the couch.

I talked to a young person who uses downloading as we used to outline or highlight the salient material in textbooks. This guy copies/pastes the salient material in a Word file and then just reviews the document to prepare for tests. He said he would pay for this privilege if the textbooks weren't so outrageous in price.

We need to figure out a commercial model which is appropriate to available technology.

I admit to downloading television shows in violation of copyright laws. I can't understand why an NBC show which is freely broadcast is not available to me via the web. This practice doesn't decrease the network's advertising revenue. Even cable shows should be available to me if I am a cable subscriber. If I can record a show from the television broadcast and pass it around to my friends (not sell), why is only the P2P method represent copyright infringement?

There is an interesting legal battle gearing up in Europe, where downloading is huge. "Punishment" is meted out by banning the individual from internet access. Pirateers are filing suits in several countries, proposing that internet access is a basic human right. Funny, huh?

Back to my basic point, I don't see fiction writers as particularly vulnerable. Downloading exists; trying to stop it is like trying to stop a river from flowing.