E-Piracy - FAQs - back to causes list

What IS e-piracy? E-piracy is when someone takes material that they did not create (i.e. an ebook, a web story, a magazine article, etc.) and reproduces it on the internet, without permission, for others to download. This is illegal, whether you're making a profit off it or not. Can you imagine spending months out of your life writing a book, getting it published, hoping to make a living, only to find out that the day after the book has been released, someone has uploaded it to a public internet site and now it's available for free to anyone who wants a copy? But only a few people here and there are doing that, so what's the big deal? Actually, it's not only a few people. It's now thousands of people and ten's of thousands (maybe even more) who are downloading these illegal copies. Lives and careers are being impacted. Come on, authors are rich. So what does it matter? Most authors cannot support themselves from the money they make. Most authors need to have at least one, if not two, "day" jobs to pay their bills. Ebook authors, specifically, do not get paid an advance. They only get paid after someone actually buys a copy of their book. Well, even so. Nobody who downloads a free book would buy it if it wasn't for free, so authors aren't really out any money. So, if NO books were ever available for free, then those thousands and thousands of people would never buy a book again in their lifetime? I doubt that. Think about it. Perhaps it starts with books a person wouldn't normally buy, but then it morphs into all books the person is interested in. Why wouldn't it? They're free. If you find one of your books posted, you can just email the webmaster and they'll take it down, right? It's not always so easy. At lot of these websites don't care. They're in foreign countries and their identities are hard to discover if we try to take legal action. Even for the sites who do take copyright infringement seriously, many times you have to jump through so many hoops to get the illegally posted piece removed that it's almost as if the author is being punished, instead of the offender. How has this affected you personally? In multiple ways. If you've been to my short story page, you'll see my note about not adding any more stories. I cherish all my readers and they enjoy getting some teaser stories for free. And I enjoy writing them. But when people take those stories, combine them into an ebook, and make a profit off my work, without my permission, and without compensation to me, it becomes very disheartening. Also, when I work long, hard hours on a book, but continue to see my income decline as each book, one by one, becomes available online for free, it's devastating. Please don't punish the people who provide readers with the books they love so much. How can I help? I'm just one person. When you see an entire book posted publicly at a site, notify the publisher or the author. Please do not post the web address where the book is being offered on a reader or discussion list, only in a private email to whoever is affected. If you don't know who to email, you can ask on a list. Someone will generally know. I see many authors giving away their ebooks for free. What about that? Yes. I do this too. As a courtesy to my readers for their support, I will sometimes give away a free download to a reader. Many authors do such giveaways. However, in the recent months, more and more authors have decided to stop this practice, because some readers have abused the gifts given to them and publicly posting the downloads. If someone does get caught illegally providing material to other people, is there any real penalty? Yes. The offender can receive up to 5 years in a federal prison and/or up to a $250,000 fine. You will now see the warning on each of my book's excerpt pages. Publishers, authors, and our professional organizations are currently working with authorities to stem the flow of this illegal activity. Most people wouldn't think to steal in the physical world, but on the internet, somehow many have come to believe that crime and a lack of honor is no big deal. I don't understand it. A personal note to all my readers: Thank you for purchasing my books and for your support, encouragement, and loyalty over the years. I will continue to provide entertaining stories for as long as I'm able to do so. Your wonderful emails and reviews have been greatly appreciated and I cherish each one. They keep me going. I love you all! ~ Ruth