When Michael Geist published his book in 2005, he and his publisher decided from the outset that it would be available online for free.
And despite the free downloadable copy, Geist said the book, titled In the Public Interest: The Future of Canadian Copyright Law, was still “a commercial success” in its paper form, priced at $50.
It was a publishing experiment that could have led to zero sales for his publisher Irwin Law, and for Geist, currently the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa.
It’s also an experiment that flies in the face of a growing concern for many publishers and authors today — the threat of e-book piracy.
Just like music piracy involves sharing MP3 files illegally, e-book piracy similarly involves sharing books online, typically in electronic or photocopied form, without a license.
But unlike music piracy’s rampant spread, the desire to pirate books online currently isn’t as strong, Geist said.
“Publishers have the benefit of seeing the experience with music,” he said.
Geist explained the failures of the music industry to properly deal with piracy are helping the publishing industry come up with its own model.
Diana Barry, director of digital services for the Association of Canadian Publishers, said that if e-book publishers are offering consumers convenient, reasonably priced options, the inclination to pirate e-books decreases.
Some of these solutions, she said, lie in the growing popularity of e-readers like the Apple iPad and the Amazon Kindle, and the many other offshoots and competitors that are emerging.
But despite well-priced alternatives or publishing schemes like the one Geist tried, e-reader companies and publishers are looking into stricter ways of inhibiting piracy.
One way is through the use of digital rights management (DRM), which is used to limit sharing or copying of digital content, making piracy more difficult.
Barry said she thinks DRM will start becoming a necessary part of publication as e-books become more popular.
But some say DRM is the wrong way to handle e-book piracy.
Jake Daynes, president of the Pirate Party of Canada, said he is opposed to tools like DRM.
“I find it a waste of money and an insult to consumers,” Daynes said in an email.
He said companies need to “spend less on schemes like DRM” and more on variables to determine the actual value of the product.
Douglas King, assistant professor in technology innovation management at Carleton, said he sees the desire for companies to use DRM.
“It’s not fair to the providers at some point that they don’t get any money for their creative work,” he said.
DRM might be helping to stop piracy, but Geist points to a more pressing issue for publishers and authors.
“Piracy isn’t the real problem. It’s obscurity,” Geist said.
With so many choices in the marketplace, he said, publishers and authors should be focused on gaining visibility.
King agreed there isn’t any harm in free downloads if it means gaining a wider audience.
“If people download a million copies, how bad is that? When they bring out their next piece of work, they have a bigger distribution list.”