Paulo Coelho reveals a new deal with The Pirate Bay, compares book piracy to the radio
Alex Hum
Staff Writer
@excalweb
Paulo Coelho, author of
The Alchemist, wants you to pirate his books.
The internationally-acclaimed Brazilian writer revealed his new deal with The Pirate Bay, the world’s largest bit torrent tracker. Coelho himself has put several of his books online, available for free download.
On his blog, the writer openly encourages the “pirates of the world, [to] unite and pirate everything” he’s ever written. He signed off his public announcement as “The Pirate Coelho.”
Coelho calls The Pirate Bay “a new and interesting system to promote arts.” This move comes after the failed Stop Online Piracy Act, US legislation Coelho compares to the Soviet Union in the 1960s.
His actions raise questions about the value of copyright in the internet age.
How much is Coelho’s movement about freedom of expression and how much is it about profit? He says that if people enjoy reading his books for free online, “buy a hard copy.”
Scott McLaren, cultural historian and York’s humanities librarian, points out that what Coelho is doing “might just as easily be called a form of self promotion,” using a strategy that “ultimately puts more money in his own pocket.”
Coelho’s love for his craft is not questioned. He admits to being rich on his blog, saying that if he wrote for the purpose of making money he could have stopped writing long ago.
McLaren draws attention to Coelho’s reason for suddenly participating in book piracy. Coelho has already established legions of readers and his name is recognizable to many. He does not need help establishing his legitimacy by distributing free copies of his work.
Considering the international controversy following SOPA, this could be a strategic marketing play to give his book sales another shot in the arm.
In 1999, a pirated Russian edition of Coelho’s now best-seller, The Alchemist, was posted online. Instead of losing money from sales, sales rose to 10,000 copies in print. By 2002, that rose to one million copies in Russia alone.
Coelho says, “the more often we hear a song on the radio, the keener we are to buy the CD.”
“It’s the same with literature.”
Coelho is keen on encouraging his sales by letting people take a good look at the product, more so than just getting his voice heard and his message out.
He hopes file-sharers buy the book the next day, counting on the pain of “reading long screeds of text on a computer screen.”
Books are a commodity, McLaren says, and this is their most important role now. The book as a commodity object keeps writers writing.
“If authors didn’t get some kind of reward,” he says, “financial compensation in exchange for their intellectual property, then they would have few reasons to write.”
Online piracy is a huge risk for any author, because they risk losing legitimate sales that add to their paycheck.
Piracy poses a problem for other authors that Coelho does not need to address. The majority of authors are not internationally famous with large customer bases.
Copyright laws are important for many authors trying to establish themselves, particularly those who cannot take the risk of giving their work away for free.
Coelho is optimistic about file-sharing for new authors. “‘Pirating’ can act as an introduction to an artist’s work,” he says. If readers like an author’s idea, then they will want to have it in their house. “A good idea doesn’t need protection.”
Coelho does not have to worry about money. McLaren identifies this privilege that makes him so liberal with his work. Coelho’s name serves immediately as a stamp of ownership.
For everybody else, copyright laws are crucial and protect the best interests of the authors who need help stretching a dollar.
Could unestablished authors benefit from having their work pirated and distributed without knowledge or consent?
McLaren says yes, with reservations. “As long as readers who download the pirated copies at some point contribute to the creative economy by purchasing some of the author’s work. If that doesn’t happen, the author may only gain a wonderful reputation.”
But authors, he says, can’t pay the bills with a reputation.
With files from The Guardian
