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I
Pirated a Book
Lyrics by Cindy A. Matthews (Sung to the
tune of I Started a Joke by the Bee
Gees)
I pirated a book
Which started the author crying
But I didn't see
That the joke was on me, oh no
Downloaded the book
Which started the hackers laughing
Oh, if I'd only seen
That the pirates had me
I looked at my files
Running my hands over my eyes
I fell out of my chair
Hitting the screen from things that I'd seen
‘Til my machine was fried
Which started the hackers laughing
Oh, if I'd only seen
That the pirates had me
I looked at my files
Running my hands over my eyes
And I started to cry
Hitting the screen from things that I'd seen
My device’s totally fried
Which started the authors writing
Oh, if I'd only seen, oh yeah
That the pirates had me, oh no
That the pirates had me, oh…
(Copyright 2015 by Cindy A. Matthews. Please do not re-post without my permission. With
apologies to the incomparable Robin Gibb. Can’t you just hear him singing this
in his emotion-filled falsetto?)
Why this filk of a classic Bee Gees’
song? The idea came to me one evening after a fellow author shared a link to a
book pirate site where thousands of books (ebooks and print) were being pirated. Guess what? Every
single title that I had ever published (fiction, non-fiction, and children’s) was
being pirated there. From my dwindling sales, I never realized how popular I
was!
If you don’t know what “pirating books”
(or ebooks, films, songs, etc.) means, it means that someone or some group of
persons has stolen the electronic files of my books and were posting them without
my permission or my publishers’ permission. Stolen books given away for free
don’t make the author any royalties. This means the writer/publisher isn’t getting
paid for the stolen copies. This is lost revenue that the government never gets
to tax.
And before you make the argument that
libraries “give away free ebooks all the time,” remember that libraries pay for
their ebook copies. The library has purchased the rights to have the ebook on
their electronic shelves for check out for certain number of downloads, and
then they have to repurchase the ebook—like a worn out print book would need to
be replaced. You can see that pirate web sites and libraries aren’t the same
thing.
To
put it bluntly, pirate web sites aren’t legal and pirating books is outright
theft. You wouldn’t walk into a Wal-Mart, Penney’s or a Target store and start
jamming things into your coat pockets and walk out without paying for these
items, would you? That sort of activity is called shoplifting, and when they
catch you doing it they arrest you. The same goes with ebooks…They should be
bought and paid for via legal channels, not stolen or pirated and given away
without the expressed permission of the authors/publishers. (If you don’t get
caught with the pirated materials, they can’t prosecute you, right? Read on and
find out how you'll be punished. It’s worse.)
So, what does ebook piracy mean to me as
an author? It means that people feel they can steal from me and other authors with
impunity. Pirated books aren't counted as sales by my publishers, so I don't
get paid for these lost copies. Authors are being robbed every minute of every
day, and it's almost impossible to stop. Once you tell the pirate site to stop
listing your books illegally and to remove them immediately, two more will pop
up in its place and do the same. It's never ending. The only way it will stop
is if readers will voluntarily stop pirating books and sharing pirated books.
Now you know why I don't write more
books—I can’t afford to do so. I have to work several jobs to keep the heat on
in the winter and food in the pantry. I hope you realize how hard things like
this hit home to a struggling author. My books are obviously good enough to
steal, but you don't want to support me in my career, huh? How would you feel
if you were a carpenter or a hair stylist or painter and people came to you and
wanted free products and services? You'd be upset. You wouldn't be able to
support your family if people expected free things from you constantly and
refused to pay you for your time. It’s no joke when people rob you, is it?
Same here.
Think before you pirate. Support your
favorite authors—and your starving friends who are authors. Buy our books! I promise it will be
worth your while. How so?
Recall what I mentioned earlier about
shoplifting and punishment… When you think about it, you pay on average a
couple of dollars (usually less than ten bucks) for an ebook file purchased from
a legitimate web site, right? If you think that’s too expensive, think about
all the wonderful viruses/trojans/and phishing scams that will be downloaded
directly to your computer or computing device whenever you download an ebook
from a pirate web site.
Yes, you can receive a lot more than just a “free” stolen ebook
installed onto your device! For example, the pirate site where I found my books
listed recently was riddled with malicious viruses according to several
knowledgeable sources. It was riddled with things that can hack into your computer
and steal personal information such as your credit card numbers, address,
social security numbers… Identity theft, anyone?
Pirated ebook files are far
from clean or safe, and your computing device will pay the ultimately penalty
when it seizes up and fries as my song says. It’s only a matter of time.
“There’s no honor among thieves,” as the old saying goes. Every pirated
download is like engaging in unprotected sex with a stranger, and the next
virus could prove deadly. How much money will it cost you to fix your
virus-riddled computing device? Hundreds of dollars or more, and in the end, you
might simply have to throw it out and replace it. Talk about expensive!
And all because you wanted to steal a two
dollar book instead of purchasing it through a legitimate site… The joke is on
you, and the malware hackers are laughing their butts off all the way back to
China, Russia, North Korea or wherever their thieves’ den may be located. You
fell for their bait!
Feeling smart now?
Remember: Friends don’t let friends
download or share pirated books. Not if they want to remain friends, that is.
Don’t let your song become a sad one—resist ebook piracy.
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| You can legally pirate this book. I'm giving it away FREE. |
