I started to write this up Wednesday and I never finished it so, I have come across a question. If anyone was still active over at the forums I’d post it there as a poll/question but that comment board really never took off like you said it would. That’s right, YOU said it was a good idea. And I guess it was, but it’s not really a hotbed of activity is it?
Anyway, back to my question, When I borrow audiobooks from the public library and I load them on my iPod/iTunes, am I *morally* obligated to delete them when the books are due back to the library? If not, how is that different from pirating? If I get a free copy from a P2P service or from the Jacksonville Public Library, what is the difference?
I know I used a scary word back there and I emphasized it for that purpose. I don’t think I have a legal obligation, I’m concerned about the “right” thing to do. If I don’t think that pirating is bad then no, of course I have no “moral” obligation. I’m talking about people that believe that pirating is bad. What do they think?
See, I fall in between. I will not go so far as to say that pirating is stealing. A copy was given to me by someone that originally owned the rights, even if it was 30 or 40 people back, someone probably bought it. If I get a copy of a copy of a copy, it costs the movie/music industry nothing. If I walk into a store and take a copy from the shelf and don’t pay for it, that is stealing because not only did the movie/music industry lose that product but also the retail store. I have also made one less copy available for legitimate purchase as opposed to using the P2P networks where I am actually CREATING more copies to be available to the public.
If Fred buys a CD and brings it over to my house and turns me on to a new band, I’ll copy that CD but if I like them I’ll look on iTunes and see what else is available for purchase. If he hadn’t shared that CD with me I probably would have never checked out that band and would have never bought their other CDs.
What about the old days when we had the great underground tape trade? We’d dupe cassettes and pass them around amongst ourselves. I got turned on to a lot of good music that I otherwise would have never been exposed to. I have since bought these CDs along with a lot of other music that they inspired. I have also turned other people on to music much the same way.
Without the P2P networks (specifically their predecessors like tape recording) I’d still be listening to nothing but 80′s and swearing that no album will ever be as good as “Master of Puppets”. Without the P2P networks, where would I find obscure tracks like Sesame Street’s “Ernie’s Safari”?
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