Ray's Books. And Copyrights!

by DwainBowman 75 Replies latest jw friends

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  Simon

  I've never heard in all my life a book being taken out of print because of pirating or bootlegging copies, especially a book that has quite a large demand,

  It is a specialty book for a very specific market. We see the demand because we are the entirety of the market. It's not a Oprah best seller - different rules apply.

  I've read similar stories about technical books and piracy which have the same limited readership - it makes them more sensitive to the impact of people pirating things vs a big publisher / popular title that can absorb the loss and make up for it with the volume of sales (low margins, high sales).

  Low margins + low sales = a challenge

  Commentary Press and the entire subject surrounding Rays books is a shower and embarrassing and makes the exjw community look like idiots, certain people jumping on a bandwagon with an agenda driven reason dont help either.

  The illegal and unethical taking of other people's work didn't help. You're being hard on "Commentary Press" which was run by an old guy and his wife right up to their death. Some people's behavior has been an embarrassment but on the whole I think most people have a great deal of respect for what Ray did and produced and want to support it in a proper way.

  Here's an opportunity to walk the walk instead of just being critical and complaining - make a donation! Help get things resolved and published!
  
• 

  OrphanCrow

  jookbeard: I've never heard in all my life a book being taken out of print ...

  So...right here is the basic problem. People just don't comprehend what it is that they read.

  The book was NOT "taken out of print". It wasn't in print. The copyright violations stood in the way of it being put back into print.
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  jookbeard

  I would make a donation and would pay for legitimate hard copies produced by the publisher for CoC and ISoCF but when will that be ? 2050?
• 

  slimboyfat

  Good news hope the books are available again soon.
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  Simon

  I would make a donation and would pay for legitimate hard copies produced by the publisher for CoC and ISoCF but when will that be ? 2050?

  That sounds like a long-winded way of saying "I won't make a donation". Which is fine, but one minute it's the most important things ever and next it's not worth supporting ...

  People just don't comprehend what it is that they read. The book was NOT "taken out of print". It wasn't in print. The copyright violations stood in the way of it being putback into print.

  I imagine they never made much on the book. They probably sold steadily but it was a labor of love and required some investment in time and energy, especially if you have a print run to build up stock in your garage and then boom, someone destroys all that. It's hard to order more books to print when other people are selling bootleg version to undercut you.

  Same for the eBooks - running a website and having payment processing, fulfillment etc... takes time and effort and is hard to justify and continue when people are putting it up somewhere for free.

  All these things chip away at the ability to continue making it available and then the final insult is for people use the effect of the piracy to justify the piracy itself as though the people doing it are providing some important service. Whether they do it for money or applause, neither are theirs to receive.
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  jookbeard

  no on the contrary I'd love to make a contribution or pay a reasonable price for the books, I certainly wont be paying £100 a copy on ebay or Amazon,though, but how long will it be when the printing is resumed? how long is a piece of string?
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  slimboyfat

  Sorry but the easiest way to stop pirated copies would be to make legitimate copies available for a reasonable price. The idea that combatting pirate copies delays the process of publishing legitimate copies makes little sense. That having been said it seems the copyright owners are now motivated to get on with publishing. Let's wish them well.
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  jookbeard

  SBF it doesn't make any sense at all from a logical point of view or a business point of view , in fact its a ridiculous excuse and I've never heard anything like it my entire life in fact the cessation of print from the publisher of legitimate copies simply encourages the bootleggers to ramp up their production, madness.
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  Oubliette

  It is incredible to me that many justify engaging in illegal activity, to produce books that expose the lies of the Watchtower organization. How does that make any kind of sense? - Deborah Dykstra
• 

  slimboyfat

  Because some people are simply interested in making money?

  Because the books have been out of print apparently for no good reason for years and eventually people prone to take advantage of the situation are going to take advantage of the situation.

  Instead of bemoaning people taking advantage, the most effective way to combat illegal copyright infringement would be for the holder of the copyright to get on with publishing the books. Problem solved. Let's hope it looks like happening.