It was bound to happen…free novel downloads for your enjoyment.
http://www.truly-free.org/
The owner of the site calls himself The Burgomeister. And he says this:
Who is the Burgomeister?
All you need to know about me is that I'm a reader: a connoisseur and a lover of literature for whom paper is finally passé. I recognise no genres, no categories; the sole criteria are truth and excellence.
Thought is like the wind; it cannot be bottled and sold. In the form of electromagnetic pulses it is less fettered still: free to roam in a universe of electrons untethered by 19th Century notions of ownership and property. On the digital frontier, our imagination's nourishment is at last free - free as in Liberty, free as in accessible to all, regardless of income, locality, or place in the pecking-order.
Well, Burgomeister, I am delighted you are a reader. And obviously a serious one. But why should Mark Haddon’s book be free – to pick one example?
It is lovely to know your imagination is being nourished. Spare a thought for the actual nourishment of the writers you deprive of a royalty.
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13 comments:
If you're against illegal downloads, why do you give a link to the website? I wouldn't.
Hi Christine
I put the link because I think this is an interesting thing to be happening. I am sure he isn't the only one. I hope, maybe, a few readers might just think first, and recognise that there are real people out there who work at producing these books. Who dont do it for free.
As with illegal music downloads, there is a word for what people are doing.
It's a tricky one. He calls it a library and asks that you do not print the books and that you delete them once you've read them. In principle this is no different from what happens when our books are stocked and borrowed by public libraries or indeed when we lend books to our friends. The difference of course is in numbers of people he can reach that you can't be sure people won't print and will delete. On the other hand, what's to stop you photocopying any book you borrow from a public library? But then who would want to read print-outs or photocopies? Some people argue that this sort of thing actually increases rather than reduces sales by creating awareness of books and a consequent demand for the real thing: a physical book.
PS I notice he does actually urge you to buy the book if you like it.
I think, if our books are stocked by public libraries, the authors get a small fee per borrowing. And a royalty per book sold to the library service, from the publisher.
Here, what do the people who have made these tings get? As with other illegal downloads, nowt.
I think he is being disingenuous. In the extreme!
I wouldn't say that what I get from library loans is worth having! (Nothing actually this year.)
I know it is very little, even for the best sellers... but that doesnt matter. The principle is the same. Well, it is to me!
To get back to basics, though: surely copyright makes what he's doing illegal?
erm. yes!
Google is planning to do this on a grand scale and asking publishers to tell them only if they want to opt out. They are going to scan every book and don't think they won't - they filmed every street. If you haven't seen that yet, you have a treat in store when you see the detail on your the places where we live. It's been called a burglar's help system. I think we need to stand up to this sort of thing somewhat. If not we're like people who buy things down the pub from somebody who says they fell of the back of a lorry. We're receiving stolen goods.
It's not tricky. He's illegally distributing ebooks, without the author's knowledge or permission which also makes it immoral. He thinks he's being clever with his wording, and the most unfortunate part of that is some people actually fall for it.
I think what google is doing is very wrong, and illegal. You know why they're doing it? Money. Why did the authors agree to any deal with them instead of suing the hell out of them I don't know. Probably money. Google does a lot of things on the edge of illegal and I would say definitely morally wrong. And because of that they have become a huge power in the world with huge financial resources.
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