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View Full Version : [Anti-IP] Comic Book ‘Pirated’ On 4Chan, Author Joins Discussion… Watches Sales Soar.




Sentient Void
11-01-2010, 09:18 PM
http://c4sif.org/2010/11/comic-book-pirated-on-4chan-author-joins-discussion-watches-sales-soar/

Glorious.


Comic Book 'Pirated' On 4Chan, Author Joins Discussion... Watches Sales Soar
from the connect-with-fans dept
Paul Watson points us to yet another example of how engaging with fans of your work (even if, technically, they infringed on your copyrights) can lead to pretty happy outcomes for everyone. The basic details are that comic book artist Steve Lieber discovered that folks at 4chan had scanned in and uploaded every page of his graphic novel Underground. Now, the typical reaction is to freak out, scream "piracy," whine about "losses" and demand that "something must be done." But, in a world where obscurity is really a much bigger issue than "piracy," another option is to actually engage with those fans who liked his work so much that they put in the effort to share it with the world. And that's exactly what Lieber did. He went to the site and actually started talking about the work with the folks on 4chan (image from Paul):

[IMAGE]

Nice. But, what did it actually mean? Well, the day after he engaged with fans on 4chan, Lieber posted a blog post highlighting his sales. As he says, "pictures help us learn."

[IMAGE]

But "piracy" is killing the ability to earn money, right?

Good stuff. Click the link to see the graphs/images.

ClayTrainor
11-01-2010, 09:38 PM
Great story!

I've made some of my income pushing information products that tend to also be widely available on the Torrents. Usually, the most pirated product is also the best selling. It's not a coincidence.

If people are interested enough in your work/information to pirate it, than there's a good chance they would be willing to pay for it as well, especially if your business model is built with this in mind. Competent people start thinking of ways to use this to their advantage, rather than saying "the government should make laws to protect my business ". Businesses need to adapt to the new model that the internet is creating. It's destroying the old model but that doesn't mean you have to give up and get the government involved. Just use your head.

One idea would be to put your product on the torrent sites yourself, and advertise your website with "exclusive features" or an exclusive membership with exclusive support, if they give you some money. Give them a good reason to give you their money and they will, because you've already got their interest, if they're downloading your work.

/rant.

Thanks for the article SV!

Sentient Void
11-01-2010, 10:28 PM
Great story!

I've made some of my income pushing information products that tend to also be widely available on the Torrents. Usually, the most pirated product is also the best selling. It's not a coincidence.

If people are interested enough in your work/information to pirate it, than there's a good chance they would be willing to pay for it as well, especially if your business model is built with this in mind. Competent people start thinking of ways to use this to their advantage, rather than saying "the government should make laws to protect my business ". Businesses need to adapt to the new model that the internet is creating. It's destroying the old model but that doesn't mean you have to give up and get the government involved. Just use your head.

One idea would be to put your product on the torrent sites yourself, and advertise your website with "exclusive features" or an exclusive membership with exclusive support, if they give you some money. Give them a good reason to give you their money and they will, because you've already got their interest, if they're downloading your work.

/rant.

Thanks for the article SV!

Absolutely, bro!

Can we get anymore discussion on IP vs anti-IP started from this? ;)

nayjevin
11-01-2010, 11:00 PM
in a world where obscurity is really a much bigger issue than "piracy,"

Greater exposure seems a good thing for the artist without market saturation, but for the already world-famous, free dissemination of works can dilute profit potential. When a corporation represents the artist, or some other profit driven body, this can seem to be a bad thing.

Austrian Econ Disciple
11-02-2010, 06:01 AM
Greater exposure seems a good thing for the artist without market saturation, but for the already world-famous, free dissemination of works can dilute profit potential. When a corporation represents the artist, or some other profit driven body, this can seem to be a bad thing.

Actually that is false. Look at many MMO models to show you how wrong you are. Big companies like Turbine have been doing better after making their game FREE (And haven't cracked down on pirates whatsoever because why would anyone pirate a free game?) to play with added perks you can choose to buy if you want than when it was P2P (pay to play). Similarly, there are even large name musicians who have done far better through Anti-IP than with stringent IP (Grateful Dead, etc.).

It is as you say though -- Anti-IP introduces competition which big corporations hate.

Brooklyn Red Leg
11-02-2010, 06:27 AM
Actually that is false. Look at many MMO models to show you how wrong you are. Big companies like Turbine have been doing better after making their game FREE

Yep, that's pretty much the same model that Jick & Skully use for Kingdom of Loathing. Its a free MMO, but there are Items of the Month that require a modest $10 donation to purchase and they make enough money to work full time on keeping the MMO running. And its a small company no less.

heavenlyboy34
11-02-2010, 09:22 AM
Nice thread, thnx. :)