The Sad State of Comics Piracy—It's Worse Than You Think

I don't know.

Get a job? Look for discounts?

I am going to say, I am completely against piracy. People aren't making this content out of fun. It's their job. They are trying to feed their families and pay their bills off this. While you have a few people making money hands over fists in movies and music, the vast majority involved are working long hours for not such a great pay. And when it comes to books, comics, and magazines, there maybe a board of directors somewhere making good money, but a lot of others are living paycheck to paycheck.

That said, any piracy argument has one major flaw. Taking away the 'free' copies doesn't mean that the pirate will start paying. Many would rather just do without. As comics prices continue to rise, new readership declines. Yes, the paper is higher quality. Yes, the printing is better. Yes, the colors are crisper. No, a 10 year old with $5 to spend isn't going to care all that much.

@tyger: If you don't mind me asking, what advantage would readers have if they buy instead of downloading comics illegally? Isn't that both sides just obtain the same material? The only difference to the reader is that he would lose money of he didn't pirate the comic book.

Dat necro

Also, reading online for freeeee is better than pirating or buying digital copies!

:D

IP laws are pretty dumb IMO. Piracy IIRC is to make copies of someone's work and sell them as if they're yours.

Torrenting is just as evil as lending someone your DVD or your novel. People who seed torrents also do not claim ownership over the works of comic book authors.

Ever looked into online manga? I think it's way worse.

I'd never do such a thing.

Do you think people who cannot afford to buy comics don't have the right to acquire and read comics?

I only tend to pirate when it's not available for purchase

Old post, but dead on. I pay for support, but many issues of things I like are not in print, or in digital format even. I get my shit how I can and pay for it later, but I am owning my own hard copy on my various drives.

YES..

i cant afford a yacht, does that mean i should go steal one..

i want a penthouse suite to stay at but dont want to pay..

i cant afford a 42 bedroom house il;l just move in and not pay..

you DON'T have the RIGHT to to acquire an object for free that comes at a cost..

this is a WANT not a NEED, its a luxury if you cant afford it's too bad TBH..

it's people these days the feel the are entitled to everything. wake up call YOU ARE NOT.....

i'm not saying no to DL and purchase later, as this is what a lot of people do. but those that don't pay are only hurting the industry and when it folds as NO ONE will pay and no longer financially viable, there will be another entitled outrage 'how did this happen'.

@sirfizzwhizz: Some comics I simply cannot find, I scour the internet and even try to buy off amazon, which i was successful with once, and when it arrived it was in freaking spanish lol!

so if it's impossible to find I try to read online unfortunately. it sucks, but if I can't find the content i will read it some way shape or form.

i agree, sometimes there is no other choice. it's the one's who don't look for any other avenue to to purchase the item and no intention of doing so, they EXPECT it for free that really gets under my skin.

I love comics, so I always pay just to show support to my favorite books. It's a small fanbase, so they need all the support they can get.

Being honest, pirating is so easy that if I couldn't afford comics, I would probably do it.

Marvel and DC comics have been dogshit for decades. There's no way I'm shelling out $4 an issue for that garbagio. Even the decent stuff from publishers like Image, Oni Press and Dark Horse is overpriced.

IMO the only bang for your buck comics are coming from Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly.

It's dumb to DL comics when they're as easily accessible as manga.

Agreed, comics are so overpriced. A couple of bucks for less than 20 pages.