If you’ve seen the play Wicked or read any of the alternatives stories to The Wizard of Oz, then you know that Dorothy didn’t borrow those ruby slippers—she stole them.

The same thing is happening just as innocently (or not) at a site called esnips.com which has allowed the posting of entire copyrighted books for free download.

Here’s the problem with it:
1) The author NEVER gets paid for this. Author doesn’t get paid, author can’t write more books for audience, even if said audience loves his or her work. How would you like someone else taking home your paycheck no matter how many hours you put in at work?

2) You make think that you’re only “one” person downloading a book, music or copying a movie, but you’re not. Millions of people do it and when they do, they bankrupt the industry that is providing them entertainment. (Which refers back to point number one, you want new material, you have to make sure the writer can make a living producing new material. Which, by the way is minimal for most authors anyway—something like 40 cents per paperback book when it’s bought at full price.)

3) Posting copyrighted material is a crime. It is punishable by law…and frankly I wouldn’t want to tangle with some of the attorneys for authors that esnips currently has circulating in their cyber-space (ie Nora Roberts…among others).

So don’t be lured by those ruby slippers, people. I have a feeling the big bad witch of publishing is about to go postal on said site, and like the whole Napster thing, you don’t want to be caught with your computer harboring dirty laundry.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 at 8:06 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.