Well, my friend, he’s kinda poor he can’t afford some books and some streaming services, so he pirates. He pirate books, audiobook and videos and other stuff. Sometimes he buys books he likes a lot out of loyalty to the author (yeah, I don’t understand it either), he likes to read physical books, but yeah, if he hates the author or just wants to skim through it, he will download the book.
He usually doesn’t like to pirate from small companies or professors who are trying to make a living by selling books, but from millionaires & plenty of mega corps which already have loads of money, he feels like it’s the right move to pirate
Also, have you ever noticed that you have felt that the value of a product has decreased just because you didn’t pay for it, thus you are less interested to read it? i.e., had you paid for the book, you would have more likely read that book.
He says he will buy stuff when his time is more valuable than money, let’s all hope that day is soon.
What are your piracy habits?
I don’t have an answer to your exact question but I want to emphasize…
NOTHING in the history of humankind has ever existed like computer data. A 100% identical copy of videos, pictures, and music can be made almost instantly at what is essentially zero cost to the original holder of the data. Any comparison to “stealing” or to a physical object (a car lol) just falls flat because the situation is just so different.
Practically speaking, the world we live in, with computers everywhere, cheap storage, and easy fast internet access for so much of the world, has only been around for about two decades, maybe three. NOTHING like this has ever existed before, and businesses, culture, and laws have been very slow to catch up.
I’m not saying pirating is right or wrong, just that the whole idea is still so new that society hasn’t caught up to it yet.
There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Even if I pay for a product I love some asshole suit is going to get a bigger cut than the artists who did the work.
I’m an indie author, and all my novels ended up on PDFdrive.
Not that I’d be mad about it. If someone pirates my books and likes them, maybe they’ll support me in the future.
Just saying, I’m not wearing suits. I’m working full-time and write when I have off and got the time and energy.
For us Indies, getting eyeballs on our books is next to impossible anyways, so I already gave up on the idea that writing will ever be more than an expensive hobby.
Yep! Often the math is “the people who pirated probably wouldn’t have bought your product if they couldn’t pirate it, so you didn’t lose anything. But you did gain a reader, who can now recommend it to others, and / or make future purchases themselves”. Generally speaking, pirating isn’t bad to the bottom line (not saying it’s good).
It hurts brick and mortar stores, but then, so do libraries. (Hah)
I’ve always been of the opinion that people who truly love what they piratesd will at some point want the author to carry on writing. Just like someone who just stumbled upon your work by accident. That’s the beauty of humanity, people do remember, and they do care, and creative arts are a pursuit that connects author and reader.
It hurts brick and mortar stores, but then, so do libraries. (Hah)
libraries are not comparable to what damage piracy does to brick and mortar stores and small authors
Piracy does not damage at all compared to the damage monopolized america is doing to them.
That was a joke about how much capitalists hate socialist libraries.
If we had any sense as a species we would be funding artists so that they can pursue their art full time. Industry advances technology, but art advances the mind.
We might end up like people who do graphics… replaced by AI tools. There aren’t any that make it as easy yet (and maybe there won’t), but who knows where tech will lead us.
If you do it as a hobby, you don’t need to worry about it so much, but it does take something away for sure.
Just like the invention of the camera stopped people painting portraits.
AI will change the game, but I think after an initial period of growing pains that we’re really facing a shift in the economy whether we’re ready or not. All of the “problems” of capitalism have been due to runaway efficiency. A scarcity economy is absurd when we’re infinitely capable of producing everything people want or need.
I agree, and the optimist in me desperately wants to experience a post-scarcity society like the one we’re seeing in the The Culture books, where AIs run the world, and we humans are free to chase whatever it is we’re dreaming of.
Maybe that’s a romantic notion, but I’m hesitant to give up on in. Dreams are what’s kept us going for the past millennia.
You might become bored and depression does seem to be more common when you do not have a particular sense of purpose.
I like the idea as well but human psychology might not be so conductive to easy living.
You mean, being forced to find your own meaning instead of just going down a socially acceptable to-do list?
Boredom is simply a lack of imagination and drugs.
For us Indies, getting eyeballs on our books is next to impossible anyways, so I already gave up on the idea that writing will ever be more than an expensive hobby.
I am sorry to hear that. If it ended up on pdf drive, then I guess it’s either that, enough people want to read it or pdf drive has a bot which is ruthlessly uploading all the books it can find. Have you tried self publishing on kindle? Also, name your books if you want to, it looks like some eyeballs and popularity will do you some good.
I tried on Kindle, but the reality is that every day, a six-digit number of books are being released, which leads to insane odds.
I wrote cyberpunk/urban fantasy crossover books, but am now switching over to space opera. If you’re still interested, I can give you the title of the “entry book” that starts the story.
Shadowrun?
No, I’m not writing Shadowrun, but the genre has some similarities.
Agreed. I can say that personally I went back and bought a lot of music that I copied off of my friends’ ipods as a kid. I’m sure it isn’t the norm to go back and buy stuff, but it happens.
Just curious — why do you consider writing to be an expensive hobby? I mean, it’s totally expensive from an opportunity cost perspective, but wouldn’t any hobby be? Is it the cost to get it published somewhere?
If you just write for yourself, it only costs time. If you plan to (*self-) publish it, though, you want at least a good cover, and optimally, you’d hire an editor and maybe things like sensitivity readers. And then, most people seem to prefer audio books these days, which is either expensive, or hard to pull off, due to having to find a narrator who’s okay with royalty share with a non-established author. And then you haven’t advertised your book at all yet.
I’ve so far only worried about cover and editing. Wrote 4 novels. Now I’m writing a series and am considering writing the whole thing completely first, then getting a deal with an artist for all the covers. This also makes it easier to do foreshadowing properly over the course of more than one book, and it’s probably advantageous to stagger book releases, even if that means a few years without putting anything out to the world.
*All these points are moot if you aim to get published by an established house, but then you’re dealing with “the suits”, and people who rank “will it sell” higher than “is it good”.
How expensive does editing and cover art get? I imagine it’s pretty pricey to hire people to do that. You mention this is moot going the traditional publishing route — I guess because publishers will front the costs for these things if they think your book will sell? If you’re buying cover art and stuff to self-publish, where do you publish your novels? Do you sell print copies, or is it all digital? Is selling physical copies even feasible without a traditional publisher?
bigger cut than the artists
that’s the shitty part! I don’t like that one bit.
Then pirate and make sure the creator gets nothing.
not ideal, you know, I would prefer it if creators had pay links attached to their accounts and you could anonymously send them money. Pirate something, pay the creator some money if you can. I mean, if enough people do it, the corps would be forced to change the game.
How do you tip say 500 people who made a film?
The sentiment is great. I’d love this also, but for film it won’t work.
They were already paid during production.
The thing that would change is that we won’t have movies where 500 people worked on who do it to get a paycheck, but instead 5-20 people who are really passionate about it.
While undermining the system that is already failing artists.
So you pirate it and donate the normal price to the author directly, right?
When I was in university, I watched a movie online using alternative means that I had been kind of interested in, but never went to see. I then watched it again. Then I went out and bought a DVD.
A little after that, I watched a lets play of a game that basically gave the entire experience in a single watch. I liked the game enough that I bought it immediately and just let it sit on my steam library without an install, just so the creator would receive their dues.
A year or so ago, I got a game through a charity bundle and wound up playing hundreds of hours of it. Since the creators got no money from my purchase, I bought merch, and waited for DLC to come out for me to buy instantly, just so they’d get something from me.
Recently, a AAA studio let go a bunch of creators while their game was wrapping up, essentially punishing them for a job well done. The creators will get nothing if I buy the game they made, but the studio that screwed them over will get everything. Just like I always have, I will give as much as they deserve to receive.
I did the same with Chernobyl. Originally watched it with my friends password, but I liked it so much I bought the steel book 4k. If I hadn’t had that shared password they wouldn’t have gotten any money out of me
Sometimes, when it’s particularly impactful. But you can save your shaming for somebody who cares about your opinion. The fact that you’ve given me more attention than anybody with the power to change things shows where your allegiance lies.
I don’t know what you mean by “allegiance”, you were talking about ethics and that authors don’t get what they deserve. Your problem was not compensation itself but that some people that you don’t think deserve it get a bigger cut than you’re comfortable with.
It logically follows that in this frame of mind the ethical thing to do is to cut out the middle man and compensate the original author for their work directly.
I don’t know what kind of box you put me into based on one sentence but not everyone is out to get you who doesn’t 100% agree with you. This is why civil discussion is not possible online anymore.
The problem is that pirates are mostly full of shit. They just don’t want to pay. It’s that simple. Everything else is an attempt to rationalize.
Not completely true. Are there shot pirates yes, just like there are shit uploaders that think it’s fun to bundle a computer virus with downloadable content.
If it’s something new, like a new book or movie, I will pay for it. The movies/shows I pirate are old and mostly out of circulation, unless they are streaming on some service. I pay for those so their is monetary transactions.
For example, I just recently spent 2 days downloading CHiPs original tv series, even with my high speed broadband it was that slow because there aren’t that many people offering it. Took me 3 days to find it to dl.
Not all piracy is bad. New stuff, ok not cool. But older stuff that has had a good run, the loss of revenue to creator/publisher is so minimal that they won’t feel it.
I’m an ethical pirate, if I think it’s worth watching over and over again I’ll buy it, if it’s available. I won’t pirate software or books.
I have kindle for reading and there is nothing new worth downloading software wise, plus I use linux on my computer, so all my software is free anyway, and if I can’t donate financially I find other ways to help. I’m not a big gamer and when I do game it’s on console, so I do pay for that.
You want to criticize my protest and waste my time, but when was the last time you sent an email to an elected official?
I’m not some kind of activist set out to undermine your movement, I asked a question. This is an online forum where anyone can comment, if you feel like it’s wasting your time then don’t answer.
when was the last time you sent an email to an elected official?
Last time? A few months ago when a chinese company wanted to build a chemical distribution center in my district.
Give me a reasonably priced, accessible way to enjoy the content and I will happily pay for it.
Streaming has become untenable and now it’s neither affordable nor convenient to watch what I want to watch. And with how frequently shows and movies bounce around platforms, who knows if the show I want to watch this weekend will be still available on one if the many platforms I’ve been paying for.
I’m just done with it.
All culture belongs to everyone, therefore should be accessible to everyone.
The sale of goods only concerns those who can and want to afford it.
Sharing is not theft.
Pirates are cool.
My philosphy is Buy what you can afford, pirate the rest
I don’t pirate music or games because there are reasonable platforms and pricing models which make pirating more hassle than it’s worth. Shows and movies, on the other hand, are an absolute shitshow to purchase legally.
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Outrageous pricing.
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Declining quality. Especially writing. See Rings of Power, Wheel of Time, and Foundation.
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Content is often unavailable to purchase. See Disney vault.
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Competing streaming services. I’d have to subscribe to six services to access the shows I like.
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Content disappears from services with little notice.
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Studios and platforms have been removing and modifying older content for political reasons.
It’s like they’re trying to make the experience as bad as possible. So fuck ‘em. Thank you Sonarr and Radarr.
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You know how writers get paid fuck all for the movies they write? You know how animators are paid criminally low wages for the anime they produce? At the end of the day for most media it’s the companies that get all the money, not the artists. Therefore, fuck them, I am pirating your content not contributing to your profit margins.
I only pirate TVs/Movies. Streaming is in such a shitty state that I don’t want to figure out what service is on what, and I’m certainly not going to subscribe for just one thing to watch. I feel no remorse.
I cannot confirm, nor deny.
But, I will say, once upon a time, before the days of netflix, if you wanted to watch things, you needed to spend a fuckload of money, to watch it on cable, with commercials every 10 minutes… or, you drove to a blockbuster. So, you either did that, or you obtained the movie/tv/etc, via a torrent.
Then, netflix came along, gave you a ton of content, at a reasonable price. And- then, there wasn’t really much of an advantage to obtaining media via other alternative means. So, netflix took over by storm, and piracy went way down.
Then, everyone wanted a piece of the action. So, then Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, HBO+, ESPN+, (And insert 50 other network-specific streaming services) jumped into the fray. Then, they all made exclusive streaming contracts. So, if you watch a handful of things, you would need a handful of streaming service subscriptions.
And- again, the alternative option of piracy, became the better option, as you can watch whatever the f- you want, WHENever you want, without having to pay for 50 different subscriptions every month, just to watch a TV series, which they decide to cancel after the 2nd season.
Do you justify?
If the fucking scumbags didn’t get greedy in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this situation. But, no, everyone wanted an extremely generous piece of the pie, and now everything has went to shit again. Fuck those guys. Isn’t like the actual actors/writers staring in movies gets any of the money anyways.
If there was a service I could pay like $100-200/mo for and just have every movie and TV show I’d happily pay for it. It doesn’t exist, but pirate sites do and they do have every movie and TV show, including tons completely unavailable on any streaming service
GabeN got it right, piracy is a service issue. I haven’t pirated a PC game in probably 12 years because steam works great and has basically every PC game I could ask for.
I pirate to seed to y’all in need
I pirate all media I consume and seed terabytes of pirated media every month, proudly. Fuck capitalism, that’s my justification.
Do you?
Yes
Do you justify?
No
Philosophy?
Mood
My justification: nobody has stopped me yet🤷
