{"id":20364,"date":"2022-12-01T23:00:30","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T23:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/01\/published-author-decries-feds-seizing-online-site-full-of-unauthorized-digital-books\/"},"modified":"2022-12-01T23:00:30","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T23:00:30","slug":"published-author-decries-feds-seizing-online-site-full-of-unauthorized-digital-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/01\/published-author-decries-feds-seizing-online-site-full-of-unauthorized-digital-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Published Author Decries Feds Seizing Online Site Full Of Unauthorized Digital Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

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from the creators-and-copyright<\/i> dept<\/h3>\n

A few weeks ago the FBI and DOJ seized a bunch of domain names associated with Z-Library, an online repository of millions of unauthorized copies of ebooks. The DOJ also issued an indictment<\/a> of the two Russian nationals (who were arrested in Argentina), who were accused of running the site. I still have significant reservations about the constitutionality of seizing domain names<\/a> over copyright infringement claims, but if you\u2019re going to run a site like that, it shouldn\u2019t be much of a surprise that eventually the US government is going to go after it.<\/p>\n

That said, I was fascinated by a piece by author Alison Rumfitt over at Dazed coming to a defense of Z-Library,<\/a> and suggesting that other authors should do the same. She notes that she supports the site, even if she did lose revenue from people downloading her books from it:<\/p>\n

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The site probably did lose me some revenue, but I\u00a0don\u2019t think it would have been all that much: I get a certain small amount for every book bought by a shop, rather than for every book actually sold. This builds up and then twice a year I get sent a cheque. That being said, even if Z-Library\u00a0did\u00a0lose me a large amount of income, I don\u2019t think I\u2019d like to see it destroyed in my name<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

She notes that there are perfectly good, none \u201ctheft\u201d reasons why people might want to download such ebooks:<\/p>\n

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I think the most telling thing is the use of\u00a0steal\u00a0<\/em>as a verb. Is piracy stealing? I know that old, quite-scary video that played on VHSs said so, but is it actually\u00a0stealing<\/em>?\u00a0Theft<\/em>? Pirating books over websites such as Z-Library is simple to a degree where I couldn\u2019t call it that. When I worked as a carer, the 70-year-old man I worked for used the site to get ebooks of books which he already had in his physical collection but was unable to read due to disability. I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d say he was stealing those books, he already owned them after all.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As she notes, getting words out there and more widely available should be<\/em> seen as a societal good:<\/p>\n

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Of course, specifics are specifics for a reason; the majority of people downloading from Z-Library are likely not people in that position. Mostly they\u2019re people trying to get books they want to read for no money. But even then, I\u2019m not sure I can call that stealing \u2013 the hunger to read is something to be encouraged, something which, in my opinion, is a societal good; even as publishing grows ever more overtly capitalist and monopolised, reading still thrives, and piracy allows it to take place despite borders and Digital Rights Management. Not everyone has access to a library, and not every library in the world is well-stocked.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Indeed, she notes that copyright is really there to help the publishers way more than the authors themselves:<\/p>\n

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I do understand the position of some authors who would disagree with me here. I get why authors who are trying to make a living inside the machinery of capitalism might feel personally affronted when people access their work for free \u2013 many of us are lacking in money and power, even if people often assume we have both in spades. But the solution,\u00a0this\u00a0<\/em>solution, the destruction of accessibility to works and the arrests of individuals by US forces, is far worse than the problem. When we side with the idea of copyright, we side with the structure that hurts authors in a far deeper way than losing us sales; we side with the publishers who, through their endless trend-chasing, leave many brilliant writers behind in the dust. There are books currently out-of-print in the UK and America that I could access there, such as the works of subversive writer Heather Lewis or a good portion of Samuel R Delaney\u2019s output. It\u2019s possible to believe that authors deserve fair treatment and pay\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>to take a more nuanced approach to this issue; not only possible, in fact, it might well be the only way forward.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We\u2019ve noted for years now that in the book world, while there certainly are some authors who completely go along with the copyright maximalist view, others are a lot more nuanced. Many authors are horrified<\/a> by what publishers are doing in their name using copyright as an excuse. This has been true for years. Remember famed author Paulo Coelho\u2019s discussion on why he \u201cloves\u201d those<\/a> who pirate his works? He had even gone so far as to \u201cpirate\u201d his own works\u2026 and found that it actually helped sales<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Copyright is a blunt instrument, and it\u2019s frequently used in problematic ways. In a time when we\u2019re (1) enabling greater access to information and (2) creating new and better ways to support creators (often which don\u2019t rely on copyright at all), it really does seem like it\u2019s time to reconsider how copyright itself works. In its current form it is a legacy tool that supports gatekeepers<\/em> (book publishers, record labels, movie studios) way more than it helps actual creators. And that\u2019s not even getting to how it harms the fans themselves, by assuming, upfront, that they must be criminals or have criminal intent for merely wanting to share amazing creativity and artwork that they enjoy.<\/p>\n

\nFiled Under: alison rumfitt<\/a>, copyright<\/a>, ebooks<\/a>, piracy<\/a>
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Companies: z-library<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n