JK Rowling Finally Realizing That Offering An Official Ebook Might Be A Good Idea?
from the about-time dept
We've never understood JK Rowling's stance against ebooks. Five years ago, we wrote about how she refused to allow ebooks of her books because she was afraid they would get "pirated." Of course, that made no sense. By not offering an ebook version, she actually made sure that her books were file shared even more. As we noted, even five years ago, a group of Harry Potter fans were able to scan and OCR the release of a Harry Potter book and get it online within 12 hours of its release. And by not having an official version, the only version that fans could get electronically was the unauthorized version. Not offering an official ebook version does nothing to stop unauthorized file sharing. It only prevents you from actually getting money for sales of the official version.This seemed obvious five years ago, so we've been perplexed that Rowling has continued to stand by her refusal to offer ebooks. However, Copycense alerts us to the news that Rowling is now finally considering offering ebook versions, though it sounds like it may still be a long way off. Of course, given her misguided views on unauthorized copies, expect any official release to be locked down (not that it will stop or even slow infringing copies).
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Filed Under: ebooks, harry potter, jk rowling
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fuck her
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Re: fuck her
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No need to make up stuff here...
This is similar to other fan fiction works in other genres that are specifically prohibited from even the slightest appearance of being commercial.
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Re: fuck her
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This comes a little late in the day.
Or hasn't the publisher seen the "unauthorized" set that came out a year or two ago which, as far as anybody was able to tell, had been created with professional-level layout for PDF and team-proofed to a very high quality for RTF.
If the publisher were smart, he'd get copies and sell them unlocked in all popular reader formats (mobi,eReader, ePub, etc.) at $5 a book and might make money that way.
But locked copies? [maniacal laughter]
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"I should think they would understand that if we don't provide it, they can't have it,"
Gonna need a bigger wand there guy.
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Better luck next time
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Re:
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Copyright infringement is a (civil) crime because it supposedly (not proven) removes the capability for the content creator to sell to a person who downloads a copy.
In this case, the content creator is literally refusing to sell to the potential customer, so they go elsewhere.
If anything is lost, it's because Rowling literally refused to allow her goods to be sold.
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Re: Re: so your saying it's ok to be a thief?
I don't feel bad in the slightest. I've already paid a lot of money into this franchise, and I'll pay even more when legitimate copies become available. Until then, I will enjoy free copies on my e-reader, and thank the pirates for providing what the publisher will not!
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Re:
"Who is going to pay after you refused to give your fans what they wanted so they took it anyway" then again I can't speak for all of you.
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I think the message is "provide yourself or others will do it for you". The thieving part is irrelevant and probably not even true.
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Yep, that's pretty much the argument all along. I would dearly love to pay for the full version of Grindhouse, the re-edited and uncut single movie of Kill Bill, a subtitled version of Drunken Master 2, a DVD of The Last Starfighter, Night Of The Creeps, The Monster Squad, the full series of Fear Itself, etc. But, thanks to region coding and the unwillingness to release some of these titles *anywhere*, and not on region 2 in some cases, I can't buy them legally. The Pirate Bay can supply me them, though. They are literally refusing my money, then complaining that people are "stealing" from them.
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We already got the fucking ebooks. Now go fuck yourself, bitch!
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(Yeah, I'm a rebel. You can't stop me. :P )
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I'd still buy it, but...
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what a sad state of affairs
If she really wants to see the hearts and minds of those who seek after reading so much that they would "steal" books she should set up a set of legal copies to be purchased at 80% the paperback price, as well as a donation link to anyone who feels they have all ready enjoyed the books enough in digital form... and donate all of the proceeds to a good cause. Is there a charity that educates people who have suddenly become very rich on social politics?
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Hooray!
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Thank Goodness
Realizing I couldn't replace my Harry Potter books was a shame, but most publishers and authors haven't made a fuss over it. And I've found new books I want to try out are even more likely to have an eBook version available - good news for me and my electronic library. So I can keep my library no matter how small my living space is. And just hope the books I like that aren't available yet will end up becoming available (legally) for my eReader.
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Re: Thank Goodness
I too do not buy books anymore. I think that JK Rowlings is loosing money by not offering her books as eBook versions. My husband has purchased and read all the Harry Potter books but I have not read and probably won't read the stories until it is offered in eBook version.
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Fantasy vs Real World
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proper link is to http://www.thebookseller.com/news/rowling-opens-door-digital-harry-potter-books.html
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Pottermore and ebooks
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