Piracy Damages the Pirate
Yes, I’m going to preach about piracy.
No, I’m not going to give you the many common reasons that have already been stated for not doing it. Nor will I repeat the many reasons that have already been stated for doing it.
I’m just going to share a quote with you from a Zig Ziglar series of motivational speeches that I purchased from Audible.com. It plays at the end of the recording as a copyright warning.
“Please remember the message that you have just heard is copyrighted material, and reproduction in any form is prohibited by law and prohibited by your integrity.”
Those last four words are what really stick with me – prohibited by your integrity.
No over the top threats. No long-winded rant about potential consequences and punishments if you should be caught pirating the material. Just a reminder that you have to choose to pirate something, and what you choose says a great deal about yourself.
Forget the law part. The law needs a major overhaul. Copyrights last for far too long. Maybe I am a hypocrite for saying this, but if you cannot acquire an out of print piece of material via other methods (used copies, garage sales, eBay, etc.) I see no solid moral reason not to grab a copy from off of a torrent site somewhere. One reason why piracy is such a problem is because the public domain is not acquiring materials in a timely manner. So the law argument is a crock in both directions as far as I am concerned.
But your integrity matters! If that creator still has the ability to be paid for his or her work then pay that person. Do not sacrifice your integrity merely to satisfy your greed. If you cannot afford that new album, movie, or book then make it a point to save what money you can to acquire it in a manner that protects your integrity. Wait until it is available from your local library, borrow a friend’s copy and then return it (without making a copy of it), or go without it. Do not cheapen yourself by stealing it (and that is all that pirating is when you think about it).
One last thing, if someone puts his or her stuff on a torrent for others to acquire easily that is not piracy. I personally think that is smart marketing on that person’s part, but acquiring that work is not piracy. So please do not give me the whole “Artist X seeds the torrents because pirates help sell it in the long run!” Artist X had a choice in the matter, and decided to give that material away. Other artists may not feel the same way, and when those artist have their creations pirated it is by theft and not choice.
Just something that I wanted to get off of my chest! Agree? Disagree? You know the drill! Just leave a comment below.