Contrasting the consensus that piracy only harms professionals in various creative fields are a few outliers who prove freely available content can have the opposite effect. More authors are leveraging the long-morally gray activity in positive ways, and finding success in the process.
The humorously titled children's book "Go the F*ck to Sleep," written by Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Ricardo Cortés, topped Amazon sales charts today - leading some to say it's the successful if unexpected result of pirated PDF copies of the work making the internet rounds.
The book, scheduled for official release on June 14th, has spent 22 days in the top 100 according to the online retailer.
San Francisco's The Bay Citizen spoke with Ibrahim Ahmad, the senior editor at the book's Manhattan-based publisher Akashic Books, about the sudden interest in "Go the F*ck to Sleep." Ahmad told the site he had done nothing to promote the book leading up to the massive sales spike, but was perfectly fine with reaping its rewards.
The publisher may soon rather see such such activity curtailed, however. If pre-release piracy is akin to early buzz, once the genuine article is available it's likely all involved would much rather sell the book than see it given away for free.
That won't be a problem suggests Business Insider, who points out "Go the F*ck to Sleep" has an advantage in the traditional retail market as it's a picture book and won't fall into the same trap as traditional novels when it comes to piracy.
Will this success story mark a sea change in the book publishing world? Probably not. However, it's proof enough that some good can come from piracy if those potentially harmed by it can adapt.
Novelist Paulo Coelho believes that piracy should be utilized as a tool by creators. To that end, the famous writer started the blog "Pirate Coelho," dedicated solely to getting his work into the hands of readers who may for whatever reason lack the means to purchase it legitimately. His mantra: Buy it if you like it. And according to Coelho, his book sales have increased even as he willingly told people to pirate them.
Sci-fi writer Walter Jon Williams asked pirates this week to come forward if they hold scanned copies of his out-of-print work. He wants to talk. It isn't a subtle trap, Williams assures; just an honest plea for 21st century crowdsourcing.
The author originally planned to pirate pirated scans of his work with the intention of redistributing them officially to make some cash, but his self-proclaimed "cunning plan" hit a wall; the quality of scans turned up in his search was sorely lacking. Williams then decided to offer anyone who came forward with illegal copies a trade.
"Should any of you volunteer to provide scans of 'Days of Atonement,' 'Angel Station,' and 'Knight Moves,' that lucky individual will get a signed, personalized copy of the WJW book of his or her choice (assuming I actually have a copy, of course)," wrote Williams. "Plus, whatever book you scan will spend digital eternity with your name in it, along with my eternal thanks."
This sort of fan-generated revival of out-of-print works isn't exclusive to the West. In Japan last month, manga creator Ken Akamatsu asked pirates to send in their out-of-print contraband so it could be "purified" (read: fitted with ads) for an online re-release at his site, j-comi.
Good or bad, many believe piracy is here to stay - the cost of doing business in the digital age. How artists, musicians and filmmakers handle it could make all the difference in just how much it actually affects both them and consumers.
Are these creators trailblazers, or just kidding themselves? Let us know what you think about their plans in the comment section.
