Did you know that books are being pirated? I sure didn’t — I thought piracy was limited to music, movies, and software. But apparently there’s a thriving online piracy scene for old-school books. And not just eBooks — in many cases the books are scanned, converted to text via OCR software, and proof-read by the person doing the piracy (!). Author C. Max Magee, writing for his website The Millions, explored book piracy, asking some key questions: who’s downloading these books, who’s uploading them, and how exactly do you pirate a book? By talking to an insider (known only by his handle “The Real Caterpillar”), Magee learned some secrets of the book pirate trade. Here are some snippets:
The Millions: How active are you. How many books have you uploaded or downloaded?
The Real Caterpillar: In the past month, I have uploaded approximately 50 books to the torrent site where you contacted me. I am much less active then I once was. I used to scan many books, but in the past two years I have only done a few. Between 2002-2005 I created around 200 ebooks by scanning the physical copy, OCRing and proofing the output, and uploading them to USENET. I generally only upload content that I have scanned, with some exceptions. I have been out of the book scene for a while, concentrating on rare and out of print movies instead of books because it is much easier to rip a movie from VHS or DVD than to scan and proof a book.
I have downloaded a couple thousand ebooks via USENET and private torrent sites.
TM: Do you typically see scanned physical books or ebooks where the DRM has been broken?
TRC: Most of what I have seen is scanned physical books. Stephen King’s Under the Dome was the first DRM-broken book I downloaded knowingly.
TM: Why have you gone this route as opposed to using a library or buying books? Do you consider this “stealing” or is it a gray area?
TRC: I own around 1,600 physical books, maybe a third of which were bought new, the rest used. I buy many hardcovers in a given year and generally purchase more books than I end up reading, so I have not chosen to collect electronic books as opposed to paper books but in addition to them. My electronic library has about a 50% crossover with my physical library, so that I can read the book on my electronic reader, “loan” the book without endangering my physical copy, or eventually rid myself of the paper copy if it is a book I do not have strong feelings about.
Read the rest for a bizarre look into this underground scene.
(Via Waxy.org.) Photo courtesy of Flickr user Dawn Endico, used via Creative Commons license.
Comments (18)
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“Do you consider this ‘stealing’ or is it a gray area?”
Why is stealing in quotes? How is this a gray area? How would Mangesh and Will feel if each issue of Mental_Floss were to suddenly appear on these pirate sites within a day of hitting the newsstands?
posted by Steven on 1-27-2010 at 1:10 pm
i can so no difference in making a book available to the public on the intra-webs and what your community library does.
This should be encouraged.
posted by ee the c on 1-27-2010 at 1:12 pm
Steven – I want to be clear, the blockquoted portion is Magee’s interview, not mine — those are Magee’s quotes. I don’t know how Mangesh and Will would feel, though I suspect they wouldn’t be happy. :)
posted by Chris Higgins on 1-27-2010 at 1:15 pm
Book piracy is disgusting. Publishing is not a big money making industry. Piracy hurts everybody. I don’t think people realize just how much goes into making a book. It’s not just an author and a publisher. It’s also an editor, an arts department, a marketing department, etc. The book prices are justified by all the work that went into them. By pirating books, all of those people get hurt. And we get hurt too. Because if authors can’t get paid to write, they’ll have to get paid some other way and have less time for writing. And we will have less quality material to read.
DON’T PIRATE BOOKS PEOPLE!
Also, Laurie Halse Anderson just did a post about this the other day. http://halseanderson.livejournal.com/
posted by Lindsay F on 1-27-2010 at 1:22 pm
Also, what is wrong with just going to the library?? Are people just that lazy??
posted by Lindsay F on 1-27-2010 at 1:25 pm
Things are only going to get worse once people start cracking the DRM for Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader files, etc. (if they haven’t already…I’m sure they have). The best deterrent to piracy is make your product affordable. Right now paying $9.99 for an ebook or $12.99 for a physical copy is not enough of a difference. Make that $2.99 or $3.99 for the ebook and you’re onto something. Look at the Apps market for iPhone. I’m willing to pay $.99 for an App I’ve never heard of because I know I’m not out much. Just like if I go to a used bookstore I’ll shell out $2 for some ragged sci-fi paperback because if it’s bad I’m not out much. It all comes down to price in the end.
posted by SpaceMonkeyX on 1-27-2010 at 1:39 pm
I’ll be honest, I pirate books. However, in my defense I only pirate textbooks for my classes or for classes I am interested in taking. I do this because I no longer feel that the retail price of textbooks is fair and because it gives me a chance to explore a subject or content so that I can better evaluate whether or not I am interested. It’s a more economical option than enrolling in a course and buying the book, only to find out that I don’t enjoy either…
posted by chris on 1-27-2010 at 1:40 pm
I confess: I have downloaded pirated books.
But I consider myself an ‘ethical’ pirate. I only pirate books that I already own a printed copy of.
I put the electronic copy on my eReader and am able to take most of my home library where ever I go. I can take multiple books on long trips without the added weight/hassle. I can continue to enjoy books when my copy has been damaged (and have even purchased damaged books at a reduced price just so I could get the e-version).
I can’t wait for the day when the book publishers take a cue from the movie industry and start including the digital version with your purchase.
*I love how Blu-Rays will also often include the DVD and Digital versions*
posted by Zed on 1-27-2010 at 1:46 pm
It should also be noted that Google has been doing this for a while too-scanning books and putting them online without author or publisher consent.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/29/google-settles-books-lawsuit/
It’s dispicable.
posted by Nicabean on 1-27-2010 at 1:48 pm
something really needs to be done about the price of textbooks. their prices can be very exoberant and oftentimes students are unable to sell them back to bookstores because teachers move onto the newest edition.
posted by KayTee on 1-27-2010 at 1:53 pm
I live in a small town, which up until a week ago had a fantastic book store, now I only have Wal-Mart or the internet for my reading habit. I buy probably 50-75 books a year and now have no real options except Ebooks or paying for shipping.
I think Zed is on to something, I would prefer a real book but would love to have a digital copy to take while traveling.
posted by hockey zombie on 1-27-2010 at 2:39 pm
KayTee – once a publisher releases a new edition, they won’t sell the previous edition to bookstores. While you might be able to find a limited number of the older edition available online or at used book stores, the faculty’s hands are tied because there is no way to guarantee the entire body of students in a course can purchase that edition. Further the publisher and author has a reasonable motive in wanting to change editions as they make all of their money of off the first sale; used books make them nothing.
Pirated books are likely gonna take the same track as pirated audio or video recordings; the industry is going to have to understand the change in delivery and adjust its business model accordingly. Similar to the music industry, only a small number of authors make a significant profit off of their work; for better or worse, the exorbitant profits made by some publishers goes into underwriting riskier ventures and less profitable genres. Authors are going to need to expect to be more responsible for the production and distribution of their work as opposed to relying on a dedicated business to doing it for them. Right or wrong, this is where we’re going…
posted by Tom in GA on 1-27-2010 at 3:00 pm
I love the idea of selling a digital copy along with the paper copy.
posted by Anne on 1-27-2010 at 8:45 pm
The full interview touches briefly on a very important point; the “losses” of whichever industry is fighting the copying. Industry claims losses of x- billion, and this is always calculated by x-number of downloads multiplied by retail value. Where is the data to show that every one of those downloads would convert to an actual purchase if there was no other option? Independent research has already shown that “illegal” music downloaders are the actually the largest purchasers of music (“try before you buy” kind of approach), and the interview itself also states that if a book is downloaded and enjoyed, then a hard-copy will be purchased.
New and unknown authors in particular would definitely benefit from having electronic copies flying around, establishing a name and getting people to recognize their work (how many people are willing to fork out money to buy a book they’ve never heard of before?)
It’s time for the various industries to start using downloading as a sales tool, rather than an enemy
posted by Professor on 1-28-2010 at 1:28 am
Is it just me or in the picture for this post are the books color coded?
…I gotta get out more.
posted by ROY G BIV on 1-28-2010 at 3:19 am
The schools and bookmakers have a scam going. Each year a new text book is published for each subject. The content is much the same as last year just the chapters are in different order. The teachers require you to buy a new book, even though the content is in the old used cheaper(greener)book. If need be the old book can be reprinted much cheaper than the cost of publishing a “new” one. The publishers make a killing and kick back some to the school for forcing the kids to spend the extra money. I say download away and get back at these learning leaches.
posted by School scam on 1-28-2010 at 8:42 am
ROY G BIV (nice reference BTW), yep, it’s a photo of the Adobe Bookshop, where books are arranged by color. :)
posted by Chris Higgins on 1-28-2010 at 1:26 pm
I seriously don’t see much of a problem with book piracy. It’s not very widespread, and authors with a motivation are going to write books no matter what, and they’re going to want to see them published. Authors are even moving to putting their books up on the internet for free, so then people will buy a copy if they like it. And also, there is not much difference between a library and this system of sharing, except that people can keep the books for as long as the format is usable.
posted by Reldnahc Sirhcton on 9-9-2010 at 8:41 pm