> If the artist wants money he should set up a donations account so I can pay him directly. I'm tired of these middlemen.
The middlemen play an important role in some industries. Many people ask cstross why he doesn't have a donation link so that people who've read a pirate version of one of his books can pay him. He is very clear - he wants you to buy a book of his (any book) so that his publisher can get some of the cash as well. Books need to be written, edited, typeset, 'printed' / 'put into ebook format', distributed, etc.
Some of this could be taken away from the middlemen. Kindles could have a "highlight typo / highlight grammar error" mode, which sends possible corrections to the publisher who reviews, then corrects them, and they get updated on the device.
I've never trawled through a slush pile. But having seen some of the rubbish that comes out the end I dread to think what goes in the other end.
> If you think piracy is unethical you are either a dolt or benefiting from current copyright and patent laws.
I am happy to pirate a lot of content. But I try hard to pay for everything I pirate. Sometimes that's not possible (out of print book, no longer distributed video, etc.) There are lots of things about content distribution that really suck. But I do try to pay for my content.
It is wrong to suggest that wanting to pay people for the work they do is something that only a dolt would do.
> Books need to be written, edited, typeset, 'printed' / 'put into ebook format', distributed, etc.
The author writes the book. Typesetting and "putting into ebook format" are a copy-and-paste affair, taking at most a day. Pirated books don't need to be printed or distributed.
>Typesetting and "putting into ebook format" are a copy-and-paste affair, taking at most a day.
I suggest you try doing it for someone else's work. Try signing up to be an editor at one of the story-writing sites.
It's not a copy-and-paste affair. And doing it well requires non-trivial amount of attention and time.
So, they pay once for that time and effort. That doesn't mean that they should be paid in perpetuity! Imagine a cobbler who fixes my shoes. Should I pay them for every step I take? Of course not, I pay them once for the work they have done.
Because continuing that analogy, you should pay once for that time and effort on the part of the publisher as well. It kind of falls apart, and I'm pretty sure it's not the point you were trying to make.
I'm a little confused. Why should I pay for a product more than once? My analogy of shoes is that it's a service you purchase. If I need to purchase the service again, then I will... pay a second time :-) But if I purchase a college textbook, unless there is some massively important content update, then I can't see why I need to purchase it more than once!
To be clear, if more than one person buys the book, then the time and effort will have been repaid by more than one person. The analogy I provided doesn't actually fall down - if several people go to the cobbler to have their shoes repaired, more the good for the cobbler!
So yes, I only would pay once for the time and effort of the publisher for that book. I might buy more books from the publisher, but then that is different content.
I'm not following your reasoning as to why I or anyone else should pay the publisher more than once for the same product. Could you clarify?
>I'm not following your reasoning as to why I or anyone else should pay the publisher more than once for the same product. Could you clarify?
Ahh, I kind of misunderstood. I got on some odd tangent about software in general (i've been arguing a piracy thread on another board recently and got the two conflated in my mind) and forgot that this was a thread about textbook shenaniganery.
Still, I rather dislike physical analogies to digital things as they're usually terribly flawed in one way or another. There is at least an argument (if not a very good or reasonable one) on the whole textbook licensing thing. There is no reasonable argument in any universe real or imagined where cobbler would charge you per step. It's reductio ad absurdum.
Of course! Sorry, I might have been unclear. I'm talking about the service of repairing my shoes. Not for every step I took in the shoes... that would indeed be absurd :-)
Edit: OMG, I really did write "every step I take"! That was a total brain fart, and not in any way what I meant to say. I have no idea why I wrote that :( A little embarassed now!
The middlemen play an important role in some industries. Many people ask cstross why he doesn't have a donation link so that people who've read a pirate version of one of his books can pay him. He is very clear - he wants you to buy a book of his (any book) so that his publisher can get some of the cash as well. Books need to be written, edited, typeset, 'printed' / 'put into ebook format', distributed, etc.
Some of this could be taken away from the middlemen. Kindles could have a "highlight typo / highlight grammar error" mode, which sends possible corrections to the publisher who reviews, then corrects them, and they get updated on the device.
I've never trawled through a slush pile. But having seen some of the rubbish that comes out the end I dread to think what goes in the other end.
> If you think piracy is unethical you are either a dolt or benefiting from current copyright and patent laws.
I am happy to pirate a lot of content. But I try hard to pay for everything I pirate. Sometimes that's not possible (out of print book, no longer distributed video, etc.) There are lots of things about content distribution that really suck. But I do try to pay for my content.
It is wrong to suggest that wanting to pay people for the work they do is something that only a dolt would do.