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Post by Jep Gambardella on Feb 1, 2019 14:27:53 GMT
.. for free?
A few years ago I bought on a whim a book called "The Red Pole of Macau" by an author I had never heard about called Ian Hamilton. I liked the title, the cover and the brief description in the back, so I bought it and left it untouched among the piles of unread books I have at home. Then last year I was going on a trip and literally as I was leaving for the airport I realised I wasn't bringing a book, so I picked that one, as it was not very big and seemed like good airport material.
I really enjoyed it and finished it in a few days. It was the fourth book in a series, so I looked up the other titles and found that my library had them available in e-book format for remote download. I subsequently borrowed all of them one after the other and became a fan of the character of Ava Lee, a sort of Chinese-Canadian Lisbeth Salander involved in international intrigue all over the world. It is not great prose or anything, but it certainly provided me with hours upon hours of entertainment.
When I finished the one-before-last book in the series, I started to feel guilty that, with the exception of the first one I had read, I hadn't paid the author a single cent. So I decided to buy the book, instead of borrowing it from the library. Recently a new one was published, and I did the same thing. It is very unlikely that I will read those books again, so it's not that I wanted to own them - I just felt the need to pay the author for the fun I had.
Am I crazy? Does anybody ever felt this way? If he were a very successful millionaire author with film deals like Stephen King or Dan Brown or Harlan Coben I am sure I wouldn't have felt the same way, but this is (probably) someone who is not raking in the big bucks.
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Post by Zos on Feb 1, 2019 17:44:59 GMT
Yes, you are crazy. It's what libraries exist for.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Feb 1, 2019 18:06:43 GMT
No
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mmexis
Sophomore
@mmexis
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Post by mmexis on Feb 2, 2019 2:28:24 GMT
The author is paid when the library system buys multiple copies of his book, pays public performance rights of audio books and pays licensing fees for e-books. With the exception of the hard copies of the book, all other rights and licenses expire and need to be renewed. A number of years ago (not more than 5) public performance rights for a movie ran $800 Canadian. For each DVD.
You may have enjoyed the work for free, but the author got compensated.
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Post by hi224 on Feb 2, 2019 2:59:36 GMT
no?.
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Feb 3, 2019 3:19:06 GMT
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Post by cooly44 on Feb 3, 2019 12:25:35 GMT
I get books from friends all the time and also buy them for next to nothing at garage sales. There’s no way I have time to feel guilty about free books. There are plenty others that I buy. That’s life.
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Post by Cooper, the Golden Retriever on Feb 3, 2019 20:14:46 GMT
.. for free? A few years ago I bought on a whim a book called "The Red Pole of Macau" by an author I had never heard about called Ian Hamilton. I liked the title, the cover and the brief description in the back, so I bought it and left it untouched among the piles of unread books I have at home. Then last year I was going on a trip and literally as I was leaving for the airport I realised I wasn't bringing a book, so I picked that one, as it was not very big and seemed like good airport material. I really enjoyed it and finished it in a few days. It was the fourth book in a series, so I looked up the other titles and found that my library had them available in e-book format for remote download. I subsequently borrowed all of them one after the other and became a fan of the character of Ava Lee, a sort of Chinese-Canadian Lisbeth Salander involved in international intrigue all over the world. It is not great prose or anything, but it certainly provided me with hours upon hours of entertainment. When I finished the one-before-last book in the series, I started to feel guilty that, with the exception of the first one I had read, I hadn't paid the author a single cent. So I decided to buy the book, instead of borrowing it from the library. Recently a new one was published, and I did the same thing. It is very unlikely that I will read those books again, so it's not that I wanted to own them - I just felt the need to pay the author for the fun I had. Am I crazy? Does anybody ever felt this way? If he were a very successful millionaire author with film deals like Stephen King or Dan Brown or Harlan Coben I am sure I wouldn't have felt the same way, but this is (probably) someone who is not raking in the big bucks. Understandable, but as mmexis said below, the author's already paid by the library. |
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Post by politicidal on Feb 7, 2019 23:36:37 GMT
Yes, you are crazy. It's what libraries exist for. This. |
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Post by Winter_King on Feb 13, 2019 15:27:51 GMT
The only books I've I've read for free were digital versions of physical books that I had already bought so no.
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Post by PreachCaleb on Feb 13, 2019 20:39:18 GMT
.. for free? A few years ago I bought on a whim a book called "The Red Pole of Macau" by an author I had never heard about called Ian Hamilton. I liked the title, the cover and the brief description in the back, so I bought it and left it untouched among the piles of unread books I have at home. Then last year I was going on a trip and literally as I was leaving for the airport I realised I wasn't bringing a book, so I picked that one, as it was not very big and seemed like good airport material. I really enjoyed it and finished it in a few days. It was the fourth book in a series, so I looked up the other titles and found that my library had them available in e-book format for remote download. I subsequently borrowed all of them one after the other and became a fan of the character of Ava Lee, a sort of Chinese-Canadian Lisbeth Salander involved in international intrigue all over the world. It is not great prose or anything, but it certainly provided me with hours upon hours of entertainment. When I finished the one-before-last book in the series, I started to feel guilty that, with the exception of the first one I had read, I hadn't paid the author a single cent. So I decided to buy the book, instead of borrowing it from the library. Recently a new one was published, and I did the same thing. It is very unlikely that I will read those books again, so it's not that I wanted to own them - I just felt the need to pay the author for the fun I had. Am I crazy? Does anybody ever felt this way? If he were a very successful millionaire author with film deals like Stephen King or Dan Brown or Harlan Coben I am sure I wouldn't have felt the same way, but this is (probably) someone who is not raking in the big bucks. As others have said, the author was already compensated for those copies. You don't have to pay someone every time you read a book or watch a movie. Unless you sought out an illegal copy, there's no need to feel guilty. |
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mmexis
Sophomore
@mmexis
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Post by mmexis on Feb 14, 2019 0:56:35 GMT
But every time you watch a movie (not in theatres), a tv series, listen to a song or "listen" to a book - the creator is getting royalties. So, again, free for you but the creator gets compensated.
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Post by louise on Mar 10, 2019 17:15:56 GMT
Here in the uk authors get a small payment for every time a book is borrowed, so that is better than nothing. But much less of course than they would get if people bought the book rather than borrowing it. However, I don't use libraries much as I can seldom find what I want there, I prefer to have my own copies, and also I like to support Waterstones since my oldest son works there.
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