Sometimes I question if I should be less honest and open about myself on my blog but you know what, that is not how we do things here at Out of Time. And don't take my honesty as shamelessness because admitting the things I've done in the past and still do is not an easy feat but I feel as though this needs to be said.
I also want to make it clear that judgment for the things I've done says more about you than it does about it. After reading, if you feel like judging me, think about yourself before you type -as that's the point of this post.
Let me make it clear now so you don't have to wonder "what the hell is this about?" It's about piracy, guys. Piracy.
In class, the teacher wrote a simple question on the board: I know where you can steal 10 grand. You won't get caught, guaranteed and it'll take five minutes? You in?
This led to the class being divided into two, those who would do it and those who wouldn't.
After that, the teacher erased the question and wrote a new comment: the money is from a church.
Since my school is Catholic but a lot of people who go there aren't Catholic, the amount of people in the "would steal" side were split again and so it became [on estimate], one quarter who would steal and three who wouldn't.
The room began to get loud as the people who originally didn't want to steal started berating those who switched sides and calling them "terrible people."
Does where something comes from or what something is matter when it comes to stealing?
I first heard about book piracy back in 2013. I could not comprehend why people would do something like this. In fact, I judged these people way harshly, thinking they must be horrible people from doing this to an author. This was partly because of two reasons:
1) I know the authors. I talk to them on twitter and I can't imagine stealing from them.
2) Why don't you just go to the library if you can't afford the book?
Let me ask you, do you hate book piracy? Do you feel as though it should be deleted? Do you think that sites where you can get eBooks from without paying should be taken down? Have you ever participated in book piracy?
For me, the answer was simple: no.
But ponder the answers to these questions:
- Have you ever used a YouTube to mp3 converter for music?
- Have you ever used a site like putlocker or megashare?
- Have you ever bought movies in plastic casing [usually sold in flea markets or for me, shady Asian places?]
- How much music do you have in your iTunes library vs. how much music did you pay for?
After asking myself these questions, I realized that the story above [about the stealing money] applied so much to me. I was the person who would steal... but not from "the church" [authors.] And honestly, I have no right at all to judge people for reading books they didn't pay for when I watch movies that I haven't paid for. No one is perfect. We've all made mistakes and we all will continue to. If you've never pirated music or watched an illegal movie, then you're probably an angel and I completely admire you.
Honestly, it shouldn't matter whether I know the artist or not, whether they're making an author salary or a world famous pop star salary.
Self-reflecting is one of the most important things in my life. How do we grow as people without looking at our own faults? This post is going up because I need to tell others about how I learned that the extreme way I judged others is wrong. And how I'm still trying to live by the morals I've set for others.
So all of this leads me to a question that I cannot hope to answer: Is it possible for me to say that book piracy is wrong and do all the things to stop it when I'm converting YouTube videos to music for my iTunes library? And when we've all done something wrong [thinking outside piracy,] is it hypocritical to tell others to do right?
I feel very strongly about this. I used to live in Moscow, Russia, where they have a huge MARKET devoted to nothing else but pirated ... everything, from movies, to games, music, etc. We visited for curiosity's sake, but agreed never to buy from there. We were there for 6 years, and we never broke that agreement. I buy everything I consume: music, movies, games, books, etc. Because what's fair is fair. Really good topic, Nova, well done.
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing. I can argue that I don't have money or whatever, but at the end of the day, it sound like a really bad excuse.
DeleteThis is really interesting because I'm not really too aware of book piracy. I know that it exists, but it doesn't tend to be covered that much by the media, whereas film and music piracy is almost constantly talked about and debated.Many people my age (16) use sites like Putlocker simply because they have no money most of the time (what 16 year olds do have money?) and can't afford to buy them on DVD. While movie piracy is a terrible thing and should be stopped, many will continue to do it until they actually have money. When I can afford it, I will pay for movies, because then I can support the actors/directors etc. that I really love. With music I recently got into vinyl and it feels great because I'm able to support all of my favourite artists by buying their records. I also love this because a lot of the bands/artists I love aren't particularly well known in the mainstream so I really feel like I'm helping them. That being said, vinyl is expensive so at the moment I still listen to most of my music on Spotify, which is pretty close to piracy in my eyes. They pay their artists a pittance and keep most of the profits for themselves, which is very damaging for the music industry. While this doesn't hurt famous musicians (this was why I was so pissed off when Taylor Swift went on the rant about how her music was undervalued. She's minted anyway. It was literally a rich person complaining because she wasn't making enough money), this is incredibly damaging to smaller artists. These artists tend to be very passionate about music and often won't want to sign to a major label in the fear that they may have to sacrifice their artistic integrity in order to generate sales. As a result, they make no money. And believe it or not, without these smaller artists, the music industry will collapse. It's like if all the small character actors disappeared from film and TV. Basically, my point is that Spotify and all sites like it should pay lesser known artists way more.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest that rant made very little sense, but I'll try boil it down: 1) film piracy is bad, but many have no alternative if they want to watch a movie. 2) Many use sites like Spotify for music, and these sites basically screw all of their artists over, especially lesser known ones. 3) Book piracy doesn't get the amount of coverage that it should. If it is constantly in the media, hopefully it will be stopped.
This was a really interesting post and I hope you were able to get through my rambling, near-incoherent response!
And in regards to your final question, yes, it is hypocritical to tell others do do right, when you are going against your advice. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing (for example, if a drug addict told someone to stay away from drugs, it would be hypocritical, but good advice), but it is definitely hypocritical.
Yes! The Taylor Swift thing REALLY bugged me. i get that she wants the money for her hard work but REALLY? Complaining about losing her money? It is virtually impossible to find an illegal download of her album anywhere and THAT'S why the 1989 sales were so high - anyone who calls it her "pure talent" probably doesn't know that. i love her music but I had to find the download on some shady website because I don't have money to buy the album.
DeleteGreat post! Piracy is HORRIBLE (and not just book piracy) but also, I feel like if people really want to eradicate the idea of piracy altogether, then companies need to find a way for products (whether that be books, movies, or shows) in a way that is both quick and cheap--and at the same time as the US. See, I don't have a problem paying money for entertainment, but I am slightly warier of paying for a whole channel when I might in fact want to watch just one TV show for example. And then there's the fact that, hey, believe it or not, not everyone live in the US. And the internet is FULL of spoilers. I think it's terribly unfair that I live in Aus and most of the time shows come up to six months after it's already aired in the US. You wouldn't believe how many things I've been spoiled, purely because I'm trying to do the right thing, and wait for it to come on TV/DVD. It's very frustrating! (With books I believe it's different because it's easier to avoid spoilers impossible to avoid them all together.) Piracy is not "right" and it never will be, but even so, I do understand why people do it. I do, however, think it very hypocritical when people are OK with pirating one form of being, but not the other. But at the same time I DO kinda understand this bias (because I myself am a writer AND a reader). But hey! Nobody's perfect, right??
ReplyDeleteFANTASTIC post. <3
I had such a struggle while writing this because of everything you just said. Truth: piracy is horrible. Truth: [some of us] know and do it anyway.
DeleteI don't pirate music, movies or books. But occasionally if I miss an episode of something I watch, I'll find it online. (But more often than not, I'll just purchase it on Amazon for $1.99 or whatever.) I know a lot of people pirate because they don't have the money to pay for the movie they want to watch or whatever, but I find it weird that they put their need to watch a movie over the needs of the people who made that movie. Why should your entertainment take precedence over someone being compensated for their work? That goes for all forms of media, from books to movies to music.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I used to watch TV online illegally a lot, on sites like Surf the Channel (and there's a site out there that I still refer people to because I know a lot of people don't care the way I do.) All the ways to watch television episodes online make me think about DVR and what exactly is considered pirating. Are you stealing when you record something and watch it over and over again? Is it just stealing when you're sharing with people? What if you invite people over to watch a thing you recorded? What if you use a device that *isn't* DVR - are the rules the same? Obviously the line is drawn at making money off of these endeavors, but still.
And I'm rambling.
Like the commenter said above me, it's hypocritical to tell people to do one thing, but to do another, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're doing "bad" when you act that way or that you're a bad person for being hypocritical. We are *all* hypocritical at one point or another, about one thing or another. Like parents cursing and telling their children to watch their language. It's okay.
Bekka, the last paragraph made the most sense to me. you brought up something I didn't even think about omg. I guess we're all trying to be better people and encourage others to do the same.
DeleteI don't make any money off the things I pirate. I don't intend to either. I just do it because I want to watch/listen to whatever I've taken. But I get that it's still wrong.
I love that you posted this! It's something that I thought of as well. How many of us who post about the evils of book piracy have in turn pirated (or continue to pirate) music, movies, etc? I know I have. Not that book piracy should be ignored, but it's a good idea to self-reflect this way. It's easy to be righteous and judgmental - it's harder to look in the mirror and admit your own mistakes.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, lady!
Thank you, Danielle!
DeleteWhat a wonderful topic of discussion Nova. I will admit that I am not perfect either, and that I have pirated a lot of things from when I first learned how until today. I have never judged anyone harshly for pirating because let's be honest, we've all done something similar like you mentioned. No one knows anyone elses' situation and therefore should not have a say. Circumstances are always different and as you get older, you learn from your mistakes. This is such a powerful discussion, thank you so much for sharing lovely xx
ReplyDeleteJoy @ Thoughts By J
Judgement is one of the worst things ever because most of the time, we forget that we aren't in a position to pass it. It's very easy to point the finger at someone else and even harder to reflect on ourselves. I'm so glad you dropped by to give me your two cents [well, it was more like 10 dollars]!
DeleteVery interesting post, Nova. I can't say this is something that I have pondered, but you make some really valid points. Everyone is so so against book piracy, but it's true that the likelihood of someone watching something illegally online or via illegally uploaded on Youtube is quite high. I think the reason why people don't really fight against movie/music piracy is because those are huge industries compared to the publishing industry. Part of me understands why people pirate things, but at the same time it's stealing, so I have very conflicted feelings.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
I understand that completely but it's actually never been something I've thought about. For me, it was also because I KNOW the authors - not because they make less but that's definitely a factor.
DeleteI love what your teacher did in class and I think it's a very effective way to make people think about it. I guess it is hypocritical when people judge someone for doing X when they are doing the same with Y. Like you said, it doesn't matter where it comes from, in the end it is all stealing and all not according to the rules. I think we are all guilty at something, but I think we judge book piracy more harshly because authors and stories are more close to our hearts than movies?
ReplyDeleteYes! That's exactly what I think. Bloggers go to signings, BEA and meet pubs all the time so they would probably feel very strongly about others stealing from the industry whereas I'm not part of the music industry so I have no feelings towards music piracy.
DeleteThis is SUCH an interesting post. I'm totally the same way you are - I will fully admit that I download music from youtube and watch movies online. I can try and justify it by saying MONEY! - and it's not like with books, where if you don't have money, you can go to the library and read it for free. Sure, you have Spotify, but you need wifi connection for that. And I feel like those are super lame excuses that are just me trying to make myself feel better. (And I think the worst part is that I don't really plan on stopping doing this??) But I think that, like Mel said, we judge book piracy more harshly because it's closer to us, but also, like Nick pointed out, publishing is a much smaller industry than music and film. I've never really heard of a film being seriously impacted by piracy. Music, sure, but not film. I think probably because most of the people who pirate films are people who would have never paid to go and see it anyway.
ReplyDeleteI love your honesty and I will say that I totally do these things too. Book piracy is difficult because people who do it probably don't care if they have a HC or a badly formatted eBook which might be another reason why bloggers/readers would rather pay than illegally download.
DeleteVery interesting post, Nova! I'm not perfect either and have pirated/watched movies and episodes illegally, but when it comes to book piracy, I'm just so adamantly against the act of "flaunting" it, if you get my drift? I understand that not everyone has money to buy books, and because of this, many are discouraged from reading or even attempt to read. If they pirate a book or two and like what they read, maybe they will start loving books and will eventually love it enough to support it for real? I keep all of these in mind and consider them because I am that way when it comes to movies (as for music, I have Spotify! Whee!). But when someone starts flaunting it publicly as if they were so proud that they got it illegally, I get annoyed. If you're short on cash, I understand, but I'd really rather they were more discreet about it. You do whatever you do if you need to, but please don't "encourage" others and brag about it... especially since authors don't get enough money from their works, and that's like adding insult to injury. It's not like movies where they the companies get millions and millions - if an author gets pirated by the thousands, they lose A LOT. I have friends who pirate and I don't really "stop" them per se. It's not my business at all. In any case, once again, very interesting! Like the others say, we just probably feel strongly about this more because we are book bloggers and we care for this industry, especially since it's smaller and more vulnerable to collapse if piracy hit it hard, which wouldn't be the case for the film industry.
ReplyDeleteFaye at The Social Potato
I definitely get this! I love to say that I have 700 songs when I call myself the person who's good at song recs but I also like to leave out the fact that i maybe paid for one out of those 700 songs. i don't see why ANYONE would want to be proud of stealing...
DeleteLoved the post when I first read it, still love it now. I think it was a fantastic choice to pop the post up, Nova. The topic's so relevant in this day and age.
ReplyDeleteI do feel you because it feels like there's real double standard if you can get away with it in other mediums and then judge others, you know what I mean? BUT I don't also think it makes you a bad person because life is circumstantial. Then again, (now I don't want to use this extreme example buttt LOL) you could also say murder is circumstantial. Ok that's tangential. HMMMMMM Actually, even after thinking about this for days, I don't have a definite answer for you. Mostly because I'm thinking more along the lines of a) what is morally right b) ethical standards and c) your legal boundaries (oh god, being a law student is messing with my brain). In the eyes of the law, no one's going to care about circumstances, you know what I mean? Australia actually just passed a law which essentially allows you to be spied on through the internet. You net providers have an obligation to pass on information about how pirates, etc. NOW the question is, is it morally correct to pursue LEGAL JUSTICE through UNETHICAL means. Dammit, that's something to think about right? Because basically where're just getting Big Brother-ed and to me, that's rather (you blog and I totally want to remain respectful here but I'd very much like to say a four letter f word in the past tense). AGAIN, tangent.
With piracy, like it or not, it all boils down to circumstance. It's one thing to say "I'm a content creator, I deserve to be compensated and when you pirate, you steal from my hard work, my income". Yes, that's very easy to say. And sure, it's unfair as HELL. BUUUUT I do think that it's something that content creators will ALWAYS have to face. And that may sound like a shitty as way to paint out the road to the future but it's the truth. Because like it or not, we're all not millionaires. And the world isn't freaking (oh god, in real life, if I was going on this rant, I'd have spilled out expletives as every second word) rolling in dough. So 1. Money's always going to be an issue. And for smaller creators, I get how that can be insulting. For the big boys, I say get over it. They're (insert the f with a lovely ing) as over in some form or another anyways, be that by perfume, notebook, some half piece of merchandise (now I just sound bitter, I don't mean everyone). We can use the piracy is unfair judgement when the world's (insert f) egalitarian and this bite sized version of such a world that we think we live in is no where near that idealistic concept and never will (f again) be because you know what, there's something called selfish desires and money and greed and power and equality's never going to be good enough, sad as that is. I REALLY LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT THIS IS JUST ME BEING BITTER NOW PLEASE IGNORE ME.
Another point is, if we're going to complain about piracy, we need equality (not that idealistic stuff) in distribution. We just need things to RELEASE ON DAMN TIME, release equal in currency, release in equal quality. It's quality in distribution and access that we need and until that happens, to me, the piracy augment will never be valid.
Your actual question: hypocritical, yeah, but hell, we're all hypocritical when it comes to the end of the day. Don't give too much thought into it. Piracy is bad, you're one person and the sad thing is, even if 10 of us banded together, we'd never be able to fix it. Unless circumstances change for the entire world, we're stuck in this rut. You're not doing anything bad at all, in fact, you're being fab by raising this discussion. PLS IGNORE THE LENGTH LOL
JESS I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS BECAUSE IT BLEW MY MIND. ALL YOUR LAW KNOWLEDGE OMG. All I want to say is that I feel like so many things are SO overpriced. EVEN BOOKS. A hardcover is like 20 dollars. And what? Authors don't even make most of that money! Not fair to them or us...
DeleteI compltely understand what you mean. I have actually asked myself the same questions time and time again. Since I started a book blog of my own, I became more conscious of the matter and started asking myself the very same questions. It led to me buying memberships to various sites and starting to buy music from iTunes (which is freaking expensive). However, I moved cross continent for school recently and had to quit my job. The economy in the country I live in now isn't at it's best at the moment either and I spend 14 hour days at school alone, so it's impossible for me to find a new job until I graduate in two years. Thus I find myself being more mindful of my money and realising that I can't afford many things I used to afford before.
ReplyDeleteBooks are not a problem, since authors and publishers will send ARC or review copies if asked. But it's not the same with music and movies. So, I do find myself loitering around websites which are well known for providing streaming content. I just make sure to be in accordance with the law. Whilst I was in Germany for example the Federal Court ruled that streaming movies online is not illegal, as long as the movie is not in the theatre at the time you are streaming. What is illegal is downloading it or uploading it yourself. And most sites will put all the episodes of their shows online by now for free. So that's not really that much of a problem anymore.
So yes, to answer your questions I do think it is hypocritical, but at the same time, I'm no better hiding in the gray zones of the law. Of course one always have to keep the option open of one having learnt from their mistakes and berating you for that reason alone. Is it hypocritical in those cases? For example if a parent who smoked their whole life and now got sick from it tells you not to smoke... is that hypocritical as well? If they have suffered the consequences? If a convict tells you not to steal because you might end up like him? I'm not sure. I guess it boils down to the interpretation of hypocrisy.
On another note, and please don't take this the wrong way because I did love your post, the example you gave left a sour note in my mouth. You said that when the teacher told the students that they would steal from the church and that the reason half of them switched sides was because they were Catholic. You pretty much suggested that people who are not Catholic would steal from the church without any remorse if that meant they wouldn't get caught. You are alluding that only people who are Catholic have a right moral compass. (I know that that's probably not what you meant, but when I simply read the text it really does scream that to me.) And that really bothers me, because it connects "doing the right thing" to "being of a certain faith". And I disagree with that. I just... there's a lot of things wrong with that example, or simply the way it is worded, that makes all the hairs in my body stand. I for example don't identify as an Catholic, and still wouldn't have agreed to steal from a church. Or a mosque. Or a shop. Or a millionaire who doesn't need the money for that matter. And I know people of faith, just other faith, who wouldn't either. And I understand that you probably didn't mean it that way, I totally get that, it's just... lord did the wording make me do a double take. Just wanted to put it out there.
Now, I know after what I said in the previous paragraph this probably doesn't mean much, but I really did like the post. :)
I never said the reason people switched was because they were catholic. I just said that my school is made up of both, which MAY or may not be a reason why some decided to switch sides. Obviously, people don't wear signs that say "I'm catholic" so I actually don't know if those who are stayed on the "stealing" or "don't steal" side. In the discussion, we were never grilled about our religions either way.
DeleteBut maybe you go to a different place than I do but where I am, a lot of people vandalize but the ones who are catholic refuse to vandalize in a bible, which is what was meant to relate to the double standard...
Tbh, this discussion isn't about religion, I just used it as an example of how some people would steal but not from a church because of their faith. I never said that people who aren't catholic would steal and maybe its my wording or the way you read it.
May be. :) As I said, I realised that that was not what you meant at all. It just jumped at me that way when I read it. Reading something is always subjective, so it might very well be that it is just me. :)
DeleteThis is such an awesome post. I adore your courage in being honest and asking hard questions and being brave enough to give hard answers.
ReplyDeleteThe dilemma about stealing and then putting in context of a church is really interesting. I have friends who pirate tv shows and occasionally movies and they don't understand why I won't go onto the streaming sites to watch something if I really want to see it. Whether it should or not, I think a personal connection to the content creator (whether it's the author or an actor on a tv show or a director) making the connection with who you're stealing *from* does make a difference in how people judge whether it's ok or not. When you ask the same question but turn the context like your teacher did it kind of exposes that stealing is stealing, whether you have a sense of "hurting" anyone or not.
The more we move to digital media and digital entertainment the more we have to ask these questions and taking the time to be self-reflective, to do it openly on your blog, I think is incredibly valuable to the book community (and music and movies and tv shows also) as a whole.