Is this ethical?
Bit of Back Story:
I love the concept of banned books! I also love books with sinister themes, I know Stephen King wrote a book under the name of Richard Bachman called Rage! King pulled the book out of print before I had chance to buy or even learn about it. My co-worker has a copy for me to read but obviously will have to return it! I have found a pdf online of the book.
My question! Would it be unethical for download it, pay a bookbinder to bind it for me as a book for my personal collection?
by Wolflad1996
13 Comments
Why would it be unethical?
you really think you’re going to find the arbiter of ethics on reddit to tell you, absolutely, what’s right and wrong to do?
I think it’s fine. When a writer published a book, they know they’re letting the toothpaste out of the tube. I commend him for rethinking his decisions, but it’s not like he wrote the book on accident. He’s changed, and that’s great, but that doesn’t erase the specter of the King who was.
So sure. Go for it.
If there’s no legal path of acquisition, then downloading shouldn’t be an illegal path of acquisition.
If the book is out of print, I don’t think there’s an issue with “illegally” downloading it.
But you might be able to find a copy on eBay, Thrift Books, Alibri, etc! It’d probably be cheaper than getting a copy bound.
If there isn’t any other consumer friendly way to get the physical book, then I don’t see the harm in it. When I tried looking for a hardcover edition of the bachmann books on ebay, every seller wanted close to $200 hundred dollars for a four novel collection in pretty poor condition. Yeah, that’s not gonna happen…
I’ve found a second hand copy, I’m guessing it was cheaper than paying a bookbinder and no ethical dilemma.
Are all 2nd hand book shops unethical? I will try to support authors by buying books. I have also bought many 2nd hand books over the years.
Sure. Download it, print it, bind it and read it. If you’re concerned about being ethical then donate the price of a new copy of a Stephen King book to your local library , adult literacy charity or substance abuse charity.
You’re not taking money out of Mr King’s pocket and you’re not reselling it as your own work or to profit from it.
If King not wanting it in print is an issue then you could add an explanatory note to front of your Wolflad1996 edition explaining it, so that King/Bachman is not embarassed in front of future librarians.
The ethics don’t really matter much but you might struggle to find a bookbinder who will do it for you considering it’s still technically a book with copywrite that you are, technically ,illegally reprinting.
Like ethically I don’t care but careful in how you get it printed
I’ve been toying with reading Rage for years. Cause I like King and it sounds good…
I would say no ethical issues here. He wanted to completely detach from the book. Can’t do that AND still make money on it. I don’t like the situation, but HE created it.
The bookbinder may refuse to violate copyright.
Just because he didn’t feel right about making money on it any more doesn’t really mean it’s banned. I’d be more concerned that the PDF you found online had been modified or otherwise not the actual text, but if you have a print version to compare to then you can verify.