On illegal downloads and privilege (signal boost)
fantasyecho has a roundup of links re: the latest discussion of illegal book downloads. I think these are important. (And they are much better put, and actually researched, than my flailing below.)
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This is yet another discussion where I have been feeling deeply uncomfortable about the underlying assumptions, which are rooted in Anglophone, mostly US-centric privilege. Writers in the US (or the UK, AU, NZ) are simply not the least privileged people involved. Yes our careers (for those of us wot have 'em) can be pretty precarious, but most of us are (immensely) economically privileged compared to the rest of the world.
[ETA: I would be responding to this discussion very differently if it was about writers everywhere, rather than mainly-US writers; I also think it would be a very different discussion. Etc.]
Then there's whose stories get to be told by whom, in what language. I think there is overlap between the people going "You stoled my work" now, and those who have Just Not Seen why cultural appropriation concerns should trump their "right" to tell whatever stories they want. And, well, um.
Annd there's another axis of discomfort for me here, one of disability. I keep seeing "if you're not willing to buy DRM-stuff, get library books." Sure, great idea -- for people (allowing other privileges, like library access) who can deal with musty books. What about people with respiratory illnesses that make that a real danger?
I'm not saying illegal downloading is awesome; I'm pretty much pro- doing things legally if there's no moral or survival reason not to, [ETA: and, yeah, feeling entitled to get stuff for nothing is not something I sympathize with, even when I do it]. And I'm very much pro- beloved authors getting to publish the next book, and I personally support that where I can. But that's because I have the privilege to do so. Having that privilege does not make me a Good Person.
And ignoring that privilege, and erasing or demonizing everyone who doesn't have it, is IMO the bigger problem here.
[Another ETA: lemme unpack that. Bigger problem because unless we work on seeing what the situation actually is, no solution is gonna work. I think. And keeping books viable is important.]
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This is yet another discussion where I have been feeling deeply uncomfortable about the underlying assumptions, which are rooted in Anglophone, mostly US-centric privilege. Writers in the US (or the UK, AU, NZ) are simply not the least privileged people involved. Yes our careers (for those of us wot have 'em) can be pretty precarious, but most of us are (immensely) economically privileged compared to the rest of the world.
[ETA: I would be responding to this discussion very differently if it was about writers everywhere, rather than mainly-US writers; I also think it would be a very different discussion. Etc.]
Then there's whose stories get to be told by whom, in what language. I think there is overlap between the people going "You stoled my work" now, and those who have Just Not Seen why cultural appropriation concerns should trump their "right" to tell whatever stories they want. And, well, um.
Annd there's another axis of discomfort for me here, one of disability. I keep seeing "if you're not willing to buy DRM-stuff, get library books." Sure, great idea -- for people (allowing other privileges, like library access) who can deal with musty books. What about people with respiratory illnesses that make that a real danger?
I'm not saying illegal downloading is awesome; I'm pretty much pro- doing things legally if there's no moral or survival reason not to, [ETA: and, yeah, feeling entitled to get stuff for nothing is not something I sympathize with, even when I do it]. And I'm very much pro- beloved authors getting to publish the next book, and I personally support that where I can. But that's because I have the privilege to do so. Having that privilege does not make me a Good Person.
And ignoring that privilege, and erasing or demonizing everyone who doesn't have it, is IMO the bigger problem here.
[Another ETA: lemme unpack that. Bigger problem because unless we work on seeing what the situation actually is, no solution is gonna work. I think. And keeping books viable is important.]