this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2022
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Books

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"Piracy" here is used in the context of books and all sorts of manuscripts.

r/books have three main arguments against it:

  • It is technically theft
  • It damages the author's job and income (as well as the publisher, illustrator...etc.)
  • Why go through the tedious path of pirating books when you can borrow the books from a library legally and for free.

What's your reply to those arguments? Are they satisfactory?

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[–] onlooker@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Nothing to say about the last two arguments, but this:

  • It is technically theft

...is just bullshit. Theft is illegaly taking a property or service from a person with the intent of depriving them of it. When you're pirating, you're essentially making a copy for yourself. In doing so, you're not taking the original book, nor are you depriving the original owner of said book.

"Piracy is theft" is just some heavily regurgitated nonsense from the early 2000s that has been debunked many times over. It needs to die, because it is just objectively not true.

[–] Qualanqui@lemmy.nz 2 points 1 year ago

Not to mention that people that pirate that material are still going to talk about it, so even though they're loosing one sale to piracy they may be getting an extra 10 sales through word of mouth.

[–] Tatar_Nobility@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

Haha I knew this statement would generate furious reactions. But yes what you said is true and is the general consensus.