Why I stopped getting comic illegally.

Getting comics for free is addicting. But at some point, some people just stop doing it and started buying comics legally. Are you one of those people? Could you share your story? This can help other people to see the two sides of acquiring comics and maybe they would also start buying comics instead of piracy.

You shouldn't be doing it, because it's illegal. That should be justification enough.

I never did it in the first place.

Do it only if you have no other way to get 'em, no one's blaming you ;)

@i_am_lightning: Why do you encourage illegal activity?

@_mongul: because you're not harming anyone by getting for free comics you would never buy.

I'm happy for you that you have broken that addiction. *Claps*

Even though I am a pirate myself I actually like hearing these stories on how people broke their addiction on pirating. It's pretty uplifting in a way.

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest....

I do it, and I don't give a ****.

Pirate squad for life.

Nope, never done it before. You on the other hand are without a doubt going to hell(or Naraka or really what ever religious or non thing you believe in).

I had a friend who did that, but they eventually stopped because they were getting and reading so many comics between old things they wanted to read and weekly's they figured the sheer volume would eventually attract attention.

I hate paying for comics. I only read the d@mn thing once.

Superman needs sales.

@i_am_lightning: Yes, you are. That is awful logic.

There is only one legal method for obtaining the comic book, and that is by purchasing it. Illegaly downloading it is taking a sell away from the manufacturer.

"But he was never going to bu-"

So why did he illegaly download it? Clearly he wanted the product. The only reasonable explanation is:

(1) He wanted the product.

(2) He didn't want to pay for the product.

(3) He illegally downloaded the product.

Now, tell me, does it honestly seem fair that these people who work for months to produce a product can just have said product downloaded with no profit to them?

Normally I buy the trades for comics I pirate, unless they're tie-ins to events.

I have a pull list that i buy physical, but if i wanted to buy every single issue for every comic I wanted to read i'd be broke... Not to mention singles are a pain to store while trades look nice on a shelf.

I torrent comics cause it's too expensive in my country.

Have you ever considered that some people don't have money to spend on comics? That a large amount of kids and teens that depend on their parents can't buy comics because the only money they have is their parent's money, that most of the time can't be spent on superfluous stuff like comics? That was me for a long time.

@i_am_lightning: So what?

Then comics aren't in your budget. In doesn't give you the right to pirate intellectual property.

It's not so much physical theft as it is a breach of rights.

You're telling me that if you spent a year making a video game, put it up for sell, and waited for some income, you would be okay with thousands of people downloading it, with no profit to you?

Are people who illegally download comics any worse than those people who just stand in a comic store and read through comics? No, not really.

@john_valentine: What?

Sure they are.

There is no possession in your example. The comic book store allows you to walk in and sample any comic book you want. That's part of the benefit and allure of using a comic shop.

By downloading an illegal copy you are taking possession of that same comic without permission from the publisher or store.

Understand?

@_mongul: the hell should i know? I never develloped a game.

@i_am_lightning: Avoiding the question 101.

That's like me letting my friend borrow Super smash Bros Brawl and you trying to say he is stealing since he didn't pay for it. Files sharing is basically borrowing the book. Studies show piracy does nothing to sales and only benefits them. Hell even Mark Waid a Comic book writer supports piracy because he know's we're not stealing anything.

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2013/07/i-will-go-to-my-grave-not-buying-the-baloney-that-every-pirated-comic-was-a-lost-sale/

@_mongul: Sharing is caring, my man!

@ariesxmasters: Except it's not like sharing, since in the physical world there is only one copy to share.

In the digital world sharing is the equivalent of creating a duplicate for both parties.

So what? One guy's opinion doesn't change the fact that thousands of others prefer to be paid for their hard work.

I think it's funny how nobody has answered the question yet;

If you created some digital content on your own for a few months, put it up for sell, and expected a profit, would you be fine with half your potential clients not paying you for said content?

There's a reason it's illegal.

What? Why? There's always stuff you notice with every reread that you didn't originally see

Even if it's "the benefit and allure of using a comic shop" the material is still read without the reader paying for it.

No need to patronise, mate. Understand?

How is having the physical copy any different than having a digital copy? Sharing is sharing. Yes one guys opinion who is in the comic book industry does matter, because if he(The guy who makes Comics) supports piracy than why are people still saying it is stealing and BS like that.

Another author's thoughts on piracy:

@john_valentine: You didn't even address the first half.

It's all about the possession. The benefit of a comic shop is that you can read their comics in house. Some even have lounges. That's the perk.

However, if you wanted to walk out the door with about a dozen issues, that's not something they allow. The still own the book until you purchase it; that's why they can let you read it in house.

@allstarsuperman: Yeah I suppose you're right. The only things I might miss though are small details and that doesn't really bother me all that much.

Hard to say for sure without having ever been in that position, but I feel like pirating has two major groups of people, people who like the property, but can't afford it or obtain it by any normal means, or people who want to try it out before buying it (the way I tend to use pirating). So no I don't think I'd mind if the people pirating it would buy it if they liked it, or would buy it if they could...

@ariesxmasters: Because a physical copy is just one purchased copy. It's yours do with what you wish. A digitsl copy can be purchased once, duplicated a few thousand times, and then distributed. Does that really seem fair to the publisher?

Also, that comic book author wasn't talking about piratrd material. He offered his own work on his own site with his own permission - That's legal.

What's ILLEGAL is if someone doesn't give you permission to take that content, but you take it anyways.

Let me explain this to you in the most simple way possible;

The Publisher owns the content. It's theirs. The are offering it to you if you pay for it. By paying for it, you obtain ownership of that ONE copy.

By pirating, you are essentially taking content THEY own for yourself, and giving nothing back to them.

Now, would you support hacking into a neighbor's home computer and stealing their files? They own the files. But by your logic, they should be fair game, right?

@i_am_lightning: You're not hurting anyone, you're breaching other people's rights. That is just as illegal as harming someone.

@i_am_lightning: You don't care about other people's rights?

That's pretty sad, actually.

@_mongul: I do... for the most part.

Petty things like that weigh nothing on my moral balance.

@i_am_lightning: But those rights may matter to other people.

Are you saying that you don't acknowledge their rights even though they would like you to?

@_mongul: No, i'm saying that such small things are of no matter to me.

End conversation. Try to ignore me.

@i_am_lightning: Well, I'm sorry to hear you don't respect other people's rights.

I don't even download the sh!t. There's sites like Viewcomic & ComiCastle.

A lot of time people pirate things because they aren't buying it, some is because they can't afford it, others is because they don't think it'd be worth it. At least with pirating it still generates positive buzz if the product is good, if not it saves people from wasting their hard earned money.

You can do that?

@regiebravo: *Woops*

When i first started getting into comics I had no idea what to start with so I downloaded loads of volume 1 trades and various events. After reading a good chunk of those I just started collecting the series I liked. haven't download anything since.

@_mongul: I buy comics. I do. However I understand that some people cannot buy them. They don't have the cash. I still would like for them to enjoy comics with me. Rather than say as you put 'comics are not within your budget' or whatever. There is no reason to be like that.

Piracy like this has been proven to actually increase sales rather than decrease them. I really think you missed what Neil Gaiman was saying. Yes, he released a free book but was after he'd noticed that 'online piracy' of his material was making him money though increased recognition opposed to costing him it. he just took it one step futher with the free book. If your getting pirated it means you've made it or at least making it, seems to me.

As for this question of yours. Would I care if I was a struggling writer with a really indie comic and my living or 'living in progress' hinges on it making cash from the very finite amount of my book on sale? Yes. That would rustle my jimmies no end.

If I was a successful comic book writer. Who saw that his work was getting pirated? No, because I am still getting paid good money for an amazing job and am in fact enjoying even more free publicity that will wrangle me more sales. Sales I wouldn't have had without the piracy.

Not only that. I would feel happy that the people who just can't afford my work get to enjoy it anyway. The former of those two hypothetical writers is not likely to be pirated. So I fail to see why piracy of this nature is harmful.

Can I ask you a question.

Are you John Galt?