Gaiman on Copyright Piracy and the Web

Neil Gaiman talks to the Open Rights Group about how the internet affects the books and publishing industry

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Neil Gaiman
• American Gods
• Stardust
• Sandman comics
• piracy
• internet

[arkdonut]

USA turned the capitalism into a completely misleading idea of "paying to get a product".

true capitalist lifestyle is about rewarding someone for their work if they deserve it, meaning im still gonna buy someone's album if i find it good, even if i can download it for free somewhere, because i feel the artist deserves the money, sawwy? :P

[mauraofdunlath]

@DrOzwald Or, you know, people might choose to pay for things not because they are forced to, but because they enjoy the content and want to support the creator, thus allowing more of the stuff they like to be made. There are some webcomic artists out there who have made a living off of their free-to-read online stories, through a combination of donations, advertising, and merchandise. Who is to say that the rest of the entertainment industry can't do the same?

[TheWanderingPrimate]

I just keep running into more and more reasons to love this gentleman.

[5225122514]

This is exactly how Neil Gaiman became my favorite writer. A professor loaned me Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes. Talk about irony.

[BillieJeanIs]

This is exactly my view on so-called piracy. Prior to buying a cd, I have to listen to it thoroughly so as to know if it's really worth my money. And I don't want the shit music they want me to buy. I want to discover new things that are not necessarily popular.

[rigobertom60]

Dude the way you put it works.

[Broeckchen]

@mauraofdunlath What's more, many of these artists can even make money with sold printed versions of their comics which can be read online.

A digital copy of something is not 100% the original. A movie is not a DVD with interesting extras, an ebook is not a nicely-smelling printed book with rustling pages and a song is not a CD with an interesting booklet. I like to pay for these extras when I like the main feature, simple as that.

[LokianEule]

This is so right. I just paid for the audio drama of a series that I had previous gotten lots off of the net free. For one thing, I downloaded them on the basis of it being more convenient, but I actually got them all in one chunk. When I went to get more and couldn't find non-torrents, I knew I should own up. So I bought one instead. And two more. And I'm going to buy more in the future!

[Iksbrown]

Yes! That's why its called file "sharing", because that's what it is! I'm glad more people are realizing that.

[maxiart]

@hilpparisilkki There are all kinds of people. Some won't pay because of financial reasons, others out of selfishness. But in general, more people will always pay than not.

[smaknp1]

@smaknp1 Borrow from from a friend/online/library to see if this is a product worth purchasing.

Yes, there are people who won't buy it in the end. Some won't like it. Some will say they like it but want for free. But there are others who like having physical copies of what they have, who want to support their favourites.

You are just making up a statistic when you say for one of us there are a thousand who won't buy. I can say the reverse. For a thousand of us, there is one of who won't buy.

[smaknp1]

@smaknp1 The same concept is occuring online. The point of this matter is: there are many people who wouldn't buy something without having first 'sampled' the wares. When you buy food, occasionally they give you samples. "Try our product, see if it tastes good." Then you buy it because you like the taste.

When you want to buy a book/movie/cd, you might want to see if the creator is any good. "Sample" their talent. Decide if you like the product.