EarlDoherty

Well, I guess I've just gotten a hard dose of the new Internet reality. On the first page of Google Search for "Jesus: Neither God Nor Man pdf", I found five links to pirated copies of the book on various 'file share' sites. (I dread to think what I'll find when I search for The Jesus Puzzle.) After the fifth Copyright Infringement e-mail sent to various places, I gave up. It strikes me as something that can only turn out to be a losing battle. It also strikes me that such practices are sounding the death knell of the book (and ebook) publishing industry, certainly for authors/publishers like me. Do these pirates and their subscribers not understand the ramifications?

On one of them, where I had the option to post a comment (and I recognized the names of a couple of the commenters--you know who you are), this is what I said:

"Everyone is posting a comment to thank whoever for having this pirated copy of my book available for free. I guess I should thank someone too. Thanks for making years of work go down the drain as far as getting any compensation for it. Thanks for showing respect for me and that work. Thanks for undermining the entire publishing industry. And thanks for saving me all the work on future books which I will not bother to write as a free community service. And you can thank yourselves for depriving yourselves of any future books from me."

Maybe I'm being naive, but do those who steal copyrighted books not realize their own naivete in that they are cutting their own future reading off at the knees? I haven't solved my Kindle conversion yet and may not be able to, but if I run into one more setback, I'll abandon it. Even e-book sellers will be undercut by pirated versions, so why bother? Why bother to author or co-author a response, print or e-book, to Ehrman's upcoming book if I'll be deprived of any return for my work? Since my sales on Amazon have nosedived in the last few months (and now I know why), I'll have to look around for a different source of income which the Internet won't sabotage. (Maybe I'll sell pencils at the local mall.)

Maybe now one can understand the furor which led to SOPA, and why, if it has indeed been shelved, there will only be hell to pay once the industry suffers the full brunt of Internet piracy. My own voice may be a feeble one, but I can't imagine the book and e-book industry will not shortly be screaming bloody murder and moving heaven and earth to reactivate some kind of SOPA and the fate of the Internet be damned. I'm not sure that the "Victory!" notice at the head of this forum is not also naively short-sighted.

Earl Doherty

ApostateAbe

Bummer. Seems like you are a victim of the perils of both self-publishing and having the web as your exclusive marketing base. I didn't make a career out of writing about religion, and now I know why.

Iskander

The ‘Victory’ notice is the shout of the butchering gladiator

DCHindley

Very J. A. Fernández-Santamaría, The theater of man: J.L. Vives on society 1998:

In an Anabaptist style social government the "task of governing be shared by the just and wise man with the witless and juvenile, the ruffian without scruples, the bold pirate, and the butchering gladiator." (p 189)

DCH

Iskander

Theft is what it is.

judge

Earl I understand you are upset, but you don't know where all this will lead. Private property laws (or modern interpretations at least) are long overdue some reform, particularly in light of modern corporate capitalsm and it's claims.

Sheshbazzar

Why bother? Perhaps because you might have something that is worth saying, and enough integrity to say it, whether you can earn yourself a buck off off it or not?

dogsgod

I think Earl would at the very least like to recover his costs, and who wouldn't? He no doubt has invested a great deal of time, research, and money. In the long run it will be us that lose out as well if Earl stops writing.

EarlDoherty

Why should I show "integrity" to a culture that shows no integrity itself? And when you use language like "earn yourself a buck off it" you imply that making a return off intense and honest work is somehow getting your hands dirty. Does Ehrman write his books as a community service? I doubt it.

If I were independently wealthy, I'd have no objection to unauthorized copies on the Internet. In fact, I'd welcome them, I'd even encourage them. I went into this research originally with no thought of profit, despite asinine comments from the likes of Ehrman or McGrath. But when you're treated with no respect and no consideration for the work you've done, when the very people you are trying to reach and inform (and the pirates are for the most part 'on my side' or they'd have no interest in reading me) treat you like dirt, with not a care for how you will personally react to their larceny, it kind of sours you on the whole thing.

Maybe I'll get over it, maybe the larger issue will keep me going, but I make no guarantees.

Earl Doherty

Sheshbazzar

Every individual needs to answer that question for themselves.
Is the fact that others are often lacking in integrity to be accounted as sufficient excuse for oneself to emulate their crass behavior?
The only way you can show that you are made of better stuff, is by rising above any temptations to 'get even' by lowering yourself to acting as unseemly as these.

Doing what is good simply for the sake of doing so is the measure of the quality of the person, and has a return on the investment that no amount of cash can equal.
If you stand up and speak (write) what you know to be true, and do so simply because it is true, mankind will long remember and honor both your work and your name.
A return on your investment far beyond any wealth that can be measured by dollars in the bank.

Yes, certainly you are entitled to reap the rewards of your labors. But as any farmer can tell you, no matter how hard, or how long you work, there are times when an infestation of insects will destroy your crop, or the herd is quarantined slated for destruction, or your barn and equipment burns to the ground.
Tough luck, life is not always going to be a bowl of roses. In farming it is either go out and try again, try something else, or get the hell out of farming.

You know that your market is changing rapidly, and that there is nothing much you can do about the 'weather' you are now encountering.
Only you can decide if you are cut out to put up with whatever it takes to become a well known and respected Writer, the one that learned to roll with life's punches, and to learn, to adapt, and to grow into a giant among men,.. or as one that just gave up.

The times they are a changing. That's the way it is, and you are not alone in this boat. Millions of others are also seeing their labor of decades disappearing down the drain.
I truly sympathize with your plight. But no amount of hand-wringing, finger pointing, or anger is ever going to turn back those hands of time, and of human progress.

Its quite simple really, you can either choose to let yourself get run over, lay flat there on the ground, and allow others to make their progress by walking over you, or get back on your feet and push forward, shoving these low-life jackasses out of your way.

For what its worth, personally, I'd much rather see you doing the latter.

Best wishes, Sheshbazzar