Head Scratch Moment...

Note: The author scheduled for today has been rescheduled. Check back next week for another Terrific Tuesday Interview:)

Currently Reading: Strip Poker For Two by April Ash:) I'm on Chapter 3 and can't wait to get back to it:) Print: Still on Only A Duke Will Do.

Found On The Writer Beware Blog:
I bought an e-reader for travel and was eager to begin "Under the Dome," the new Stephen King novel. Unfortunately, the electronic version was not yet available. The publisher apparently withheld it to encourage people to buy the more expensive hardcover. So I did, all 1,074 pages, more than three and a half pounds. Then I found a pirated version online, downloaded it to my e-reader and took it on my trip. I generally disapprove of illegal downloads, but wasn’t this O.K.?

Cohen's response: "An illegal download is — to use an ugly word — illegal. But in this case, it is not unethical." Although the questioner violated copyright law, s/he is in the moral clear because s/he paid for the book, and "[b]uying a book or a piece of music should be regarded as a license to enjoy it on any platform."

He goes on to say...
Sadly, the anachronistic conventions of bookselling and copyright law lag the technology...It’s true that you might have thwarted the publisher’s intent — perhaps he or she has a violent antipathy to trees, maybe a wish to slaughter acres of them and grind them into Stephen King novels. Or to clog the highways with trucks crammed with Stephen King novels. Or perhaps King himself wishes to improve America’s physique by having readers lug massive volumes.

With a little stretching, Cohen's you-bought-it-you-can-steal-it argument can cover anyone...

I'm having an issue with this. Under his rationalization, since I've bought and downloaded numerous e-books from my blogmates, I am now free to steal a print copy, simply because I've already bought it. Bull sh*t.

But on the flip side, one commenter wrote:
I'm a writer who's currently published only electronically, so piracy hits me particularly hard. When I eventually get a hardcopy book out there (which might happen within the year), though, I personally will have no problem with someone who pays the higher price for a paperback (since my publisher is sane on this subject) then downloading a copy of the e-book, or even getting a copy from a friend who has the e-book. They already bought the book, and if they want to read it on their e-reader as well as in paper, that's fine with me. My publisher might well complain, but I have no problem with it.

Go over and see for yourself. There's a considerable argument in the comments.

What's your take on it? Once you buy a physical book, do you 'have the right' to download a pirated copy? Or is it a gray area, such as buying a CD and then putting it on your iPod?

NCAA Championship:
Congratulations to the Duke Blue Devils for their win over the Butler Bulldogs, 61-59. It was a nail-biter to the final seconds! Better luck next year, Butler!