I understand that piracy is illegal but if I was J K Rowling or her publishing company I don't think I would be that bothered seeing as they are both making a packet off the Harry Potter series. Do you think they have a right to be annoyed or should just leave the 16 year old kid be and be happy with the amount they have made?
2007-08-09 19:08:28 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
I just thought I would say I'm not giving the thumbs down here. I agree with your point but just don't get why J K Rowling needs more money.
2007-08-09 19:24:49 · update #1
Invader Zim and Invader Erin?!? Nooooooooo!!!
2007-08-11 00:48:28 · update #2
Rowling would never have made as much money as she had if she hadn't been concerned about piracy. And be remaining concerned she is not only ensuring that she can still have an income should something happen and she looses all the money she has already made, but she is also making it possible for other authors to stand a chance possibly of earning as much as she has.
But it's more than just the author who stands to loose from piracy. You asked why her publishing company would also want to stop people from pirating Rowling's books. Her publishing companies (Rowling has various companies publishing her books for various markets; in the British market it's Bloomsbury Publishing, the US market is Scholastic Inc., and so on) would want to stop piracy as so many people would actually be harmed. You don't only have the executives for these companies, you have the secretaries, the stock room personnel, the maintenance personnel, the folks in the factory who have to run the printing equipment, etc. Each time a book they publish gets offered for free on the internet they loose so much money from folks who choose to get the book off the net for free. If they publish a thousand new, never before published books a year, each having a first run of a quarter of a million, and each selling for $7, then that's a potential profit of $1,750,000,000 for the company to make. But if half those books are pirated and their first published run sells absolutely nothing because everyone is getting it off the web, then we're looking at a loss of $875,000,000. That doesn't even count a print runs of previously published books still in print that they could loose money on if their free. Loosing that kind of money on a steady basis could lead to lay-offs for the publishers, and even bankruptcy.
Publishers have to accept the loss of books in the public domain now because they can rely on books that do not yet fall under the public domain to make some money. And due to public domain laws, that's still a large number of books.
As I said in a recent post, pirating a book not in the public domain and putting it on the web so folks can read or download it for free, no matter if it's a translation or not, is akin to the place where you work (or where you're parents' work if you are not yet old enough to get a job) telling you their going to stop paying you for the work you do for them. And to make sure you can't quit, they'll sign you to a ten year contract with severe consequences should you try quiting. And the contract prevents you from taking a second job. How can you afford to support yourself if you don't recieve any payment for the work you do? Yet it's okay to do the same to an author?
Sure it would be easy for Rowling to say she's made more than enough and is not going to stop people from pirating her works. But by taking a stand against it she is also assisting others in their ability to earn a living from their job, or off the books they write. Each time an author allows piracy of their work to continue, their virtually encouraging the piracy of not just their material but the material of others.
2007-08-09 20:27:45 · answer #1 · answered by knight1192a 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
She wrote the book - why should someone else get the money for what she (and the publisher) provided to the public? That is not only illegal, it's insulting! That's why it's called piracy! It's stealing!
2007-08-09 20:07:09 · answer #2 · answered by marconprograms 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It''s not the point weather they have made "enough money" its because its illegal. If everyone got away with a crime like that then pretty soon no one would be paying for any books!
The authors would make no money and then they would stop writing and we would have nothing new to read.
It's similar to the problems we had when music was being shared for free on Napster. The artist don't see any payment for their work.
2007-08-09 19:16:44 · answer #3 · answered by Tilly 5 · 3⤊ 3⤋
she's kicked up a fuss and is dragging a youth through the courts because she isn't making any money out of his translation.
it's all about money,it ceased to be literature about five years ago.true - technically she's got a strong case but it aint very good PR is it ?.
i guess her advisers feel they have to take action but it makes her open to criticism and accusations of money-obsession.
her next book is called harry potter and the girl with a truck full of money
2007-08-10 02:46:12 · answer #4 · answered by david d 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Guess. Money. Royalties.
2007-08-09 20:49:10 · answer #5 · answered by jacquesh2001 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I've had it with your nonsense spread by your filthy mouth filled with...corn! "That's it, Dib. Laugh now, yes. Laugh and frolic in your vile meats of evil...meats of evil!" "Curse you!!!" "Why am I so amazing?" "Inferior human organs!"
2007-08-09 20:22:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 4⤋
GREENEY HELP, SOME BODY IS ME!!!! dIB WE MAY NEED TO WORK TOGETHER ON THIS ONE, HELP!!!!! REMEMEBER, WE WORKED TOGETHER ON THE BOLOGNA!!!!
2007-08-09 20:25:27 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋