Have I Arrived?
I'm not sure whether to be outraged or flattered, or maybe a little of both. When I did an Internet search on my latest release, Dragonfire, on the first page of results almost half of the listings were of pirate sites where people can illegally download my copyrighted work.
Huh.
I'll be honest. I am outraged. But should I also be flattered? I do try not to let these things bother me too much, because when you send a cease and desist to one site it seems that the book just pops up at another pirate site within minutes. (Well, okay, it's probably a whole day...) But it does bother me. When an artist releases a work of art, most people wouldn't even think about walking into a gallery, take the picture off the wall and not pay for it. So why do they do it with ebooks? And do it with the sense of entitlement that it's within their rights to take something without paying for it--something I've worked very hard on and am trying to earn a living from?
Hopefully this is the only time I'll blog about this particular subject, but let me just say this at least once. It's not all right. If you download one of my books without paying for it, it's theft. Pure and simple. And you should be ashamed of yourself.
But I guess it's the same mindset as people who leave a grocery store and walk home pushing the store's cart. They figure that they need it, so it's okay for them to just steal.
Huh.
4 comments:
Outraged!!! That is just sooo very wrong. I am sorry this is happening to you...and all the other authors out there. I don't understand why people feel the need to do this...or take advantage of it.
I am all the time preaching to my kids about not downloading a pirated movie...they know that that is one thing I will not tolerate on the Internet!!!
It just seems like an impossible situation that will never end. Hope your day gets better!!! :-)
Kara, it's inevitable, I guess. The sense of entitlement comes with the territory.
It is outragous, Sherrill! You work hard putting time, effort and passion on to the page and then someone lifts it. It's disheartening... and stealing. There is a group that is helping authors fight against book piracy, if you want the info, I can give it to you.
Colleen, I'd like to believe that relatively speaking it's a small number of people who are illegally downloading books. Regardless, it's money they're reaching in and taking right out of my wallet.
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