August 9th

I have spent almost my entire day in this exact spot, trying to be creative. I have my “staring at the computer” glasses on to save my poor eyes. To be honest, I’ve not felt very creative most of the day, but there’s just something about listening to John Green on blogtv that kind of spurs me on a little. 

He spent quite a lot of time discussing copyright and piracy facing the book industry. Given that this is the area I would like the break in to eventually, it was interesting to hear the argument from someone immersed in the industry. As I’ve said before, I have a great respect for books and what they mean to individuals and groups of people. As a result I’m generally opposed to piracy of books. However, I own a lot of books, when I say a lot of books, I mean a LOT of books, and last christmas, my gift was an Amazon Kindle, an ebook reading device which is more popularised in the U.S. than here in the U.K. I chose this gift because during term time at Uni I spend the vast majority of my time on one of the four trains I need to take in a day and a big book is a huge weight to add to my handbag along with all my school books and equipment I need to carry around. In fact, there were more than a few books I hadn’t read for precisely this reason, they were simply too heavy to leave the house with. Hence, an ebook reader was a very clever investment.  

So, herein lies my predicament, I already have hundreds of books I’d like to put on my e-reader, yet amazon and everyone vehemently on the “downloading book is piracy… baaaad pirates” side of the debate would like me to spend the cost of an ebook, on top of what I’ve already paid for it’s physical counterpart in order to have the privilege of having it on my little gadget. Well I say, no. Until such times as the publishing industry can work out some way to allow people to download ebooks for free using a serial number or something when they’ve bought a physical copy, then I will illegally download. I’m sorry, I have an immense respect and admiration for published authors, I just don’t see why I should pay twice for the same product. 

Although, following this, I do not condone downloading books you have not bought already, it’s stealing and damaging to its creator. If we don’t want the authors we admire so deeply to have to stop doing what they’re doing and thus deny us their amazing creations, then by god, just pay the £3.00 or whatever it is for an ebook download. 

This is probably going to be another disjointed and odd debate on my side, but I have to wonder about this “book stealing” even I feel so strongly about. A lot of the books I’ve read have been passed through the two other women in my family, and to some of my trusted friends who I know will look after my book. Is that book stealing? Lending out a book? Because according to the copyright notice at the start of most books, it is. I think any author would share my opinion that a lot of books find their audience through word of mouth, and I know that for myself and a lot of my friends, if I like a book I’ve been loaned, I’ll buy a copy for myself, so that can’t be damaging for the book industry surely?

On a similar note, if I were to download a book on a skint week, I will more than likely buy a physical copy that I can pencil in and highlight my favourite parts when I’m feeling a little more affluent, and in that respect, it’s really no different from a library, and one could even argue, beneficial for the authors by allowing people to read before they buy and decide whether they like what they see. I know there are many people who wont use it this way, and think it’s ok just to take whatever book are “available” on certain sites to those who look for it, with no regard for it’s creator. 

This is a very similar argument to the much publicised war against the pirates in the music industry, and the theft of anyone’s creative output is awful, but I believe this is worse. Writers put their blood sweat and tears in to their books, even more so a first novel, for years, just for someone on the internet to take it like it’s a complimentary mint. It would take someone with either a very thick skin or a very weighty bank account not to be disheartened by this. 

Perhaps unless some clever monkey thinks of a way to outsmart the pirates (unlikely), there is perhaps no way to avoid this issue in our now digital world.