The following was originally posted as a comment to this piece on Heidi MacDonald's The Beat.
Piracy has been a huge problem in comics, books, music, and movies, years before the internet.
I mean, I used to read all of these books for free at the library. I discovered hundreds of authors (and later comic books) that I would have never spent the money to read, there and in plane site. Why haven't those brazen criminals been shut down, am I right? Even now they continue to peddle free reading to the kids in my neighborhood, and the library only had to pay for that book once. Think of how much money those writers are losing, and its not just happening there, either. There's a comic book store a few exits down from where I live that will let you sit and read as many comics as you want, and not pay anything for them. I've read way more than I could even afford to there, and only paid for like one or two that I really liked, when I left. How do they get away with it, I ask you?
Don't even get me started on all the free movies and TV I watch, and all I have to do is turn on the TV!!! FREE ON DEMAND BABY!
There's a guy at my work that listens to free music all day long on this thing called Pandora, but I'm guilty of an even worse crime. I have this device in my car that picks up radio waves that carry free music on it, all day long. I've never once paid for it, but I hear that there are people who do. They're like those suckers that went to the movies and paid to watch The Simpsons. I heard that movie made a lot of money. Oh, and when I was a teenager, girls would make me mixed tapes with songs from bands they liked on them.
In all seriousness, though, the biggest irony of all is that Moonlight Art Magazine, which I made available for free download, got taken off the web when megauplaod got shut down. Totally all mine. I had all the rights and permissions to publish it. So who really suffers for the war against piracy? I'm sure its lost on no one that the government was sending a message to all who protested against SOPA and PIPA, although the "anonymous" retaliation that took place after sounds like a total "Wag the Dog" story to me. This is about a small group of people trying to control a large group of people who wont play they way they're used to.
Hey, wait a minute. I put my material on line for free? How do I make any money? Well, I don't make that much, but that's more to do with me, then anything else. I'm committed to some other projects right now, so I don't spend the time I need to, if I wanted to make a real living on it. If I did want to make it my mainstay, I would do more of what I've done in the past. Merchandising! "Where the real money from the movie is made." I've sold T-shirts, art prints, stickers, and (get the front door!) hard copies of the magazine. People DO like what I do, but I REALLY DON'T THINK people would have invested the TIME to care about who I am or what I do, if they couldn't check it out for free.
If you don't think its fare that you're not getting more money for what you do, maybe its not because people are stealing your stuff. Maybe, as wonderful as it is, people are just finding stuff that interest them more. Sorry. You've worked really hard, just like I have, but hey, at least I have a full time job (and maybe you do, too) so I don't have to compromise my artistic integrity. Its very liberating, and if I really need more money, I can always go panhandling on kickstarter, write for grants, or ask the taxpayers via the government (no, I won't do that last) but even then, I'll be asking people to vote with their money, and if they don't find it good enough, I can accept that. Not everyone can be a rock star, everyone can do what they love, as long as we stay a free country.
There IS a new business model that many will be able to find success through, but its still forming, and there's no going back. Lets not kill it, by assuming that its a problem, when non of us truly know what we're seeing take shape yet.
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