Binding published books for private use?

[luzula]

Poll #25797 Binding published books for private use

This poll is anonymous.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 24

If you have published a book (or want to publish a book), how would you feel if someone takes the ebook that they have purchased, changes the layout a bit, and prints and binds one copy of the book for their own private bookshelf?

View Answers

I would be flattered
19 (79.2%)

It's fine--it's kind of like having the ebook on two different devices
14 (58.3%)

I don't like it, but it's not a crime
0 (0.0%)

It's against copyright law
0 (0.0%)

Other, see comments
3 (12.5%)

This is mostly relevant if no printed version is for sale, of course...

Comments

[snickfic]

This seems totally, 100% fine to me. If it was someone putting together a physical copy of fics I have written, for example, for their own use - that just doesn't seem like any of my business?? As long as they're not making money off it or disseminating it, then they can do what they want, as far as I can tell.

[genarti]

Right, same! I'd be flattered that someone felt my work was worth the effort and the curation, especially if they went to any artistic lengths about it, but it's nor really my business unless they choose to show it off to me. It doesn't lose me a sale in this scenario; it's literally just them doing what they want with their own copy.

[luzula]

Thanks for the input! Yeah, this is my take as well, for fic. But I wanted to see if people felt differently about published books.

[jesse_the_k]

After commercial printing took off in the west in the 1500s, the printers sold imprinted signatures, and it was up to the purchaser to bind them together into a book.

Do what you will!

[falkner]

I had no idea at all about this, and it sounds super fascinating!

I happened to read

[jesse_the_k]

The Art of the Book last week, which is how I learned that. I searched for a handy wiki link but, not so surprisingly, the devotees of the book arts scorn online resources -- although PhiloBiblon is worth admiring.

Luz has a wide range of readers -- I was a typesetter, graphic designer and calligrapher in an earlier life.

[luzula]

That's a bit different, though? There's no new copy, it's just up to you to make the purchased copy more pretty. But that's cool, I didn't know that!

Your icon is, as always, very apt. : )

[falkner]

I don't see how this would be any different (other than the effort and manual labor included, of course) than printing out fics to read. I guess it's not that common nowadays, but I still have stories I have printed out 10+ years ago and that have been long deleted off the Internet by this point.

ETA: I just realized this comment is incredibly poorly worded and that I should have waited to have some sleep in me before trying to make a point... basically I was trying to say that since it's something that you're just doing privately for yourself, I don't think there's anything wrong with it.

[luzula]

No no, your comment makes sense! : ) And thanks for the input.

Yeah, I also have printed-out fics from ten-fifteen years ago--I haven't checked, but I'm sure some of them are probably not online any longer.

[china_shop]

Do you want votes from people who aren't published origific writers too?

[luzula]

Vote if you want to vote! : )

[china_shop]

Done. :)

[lyr]

Not only would I be cool with it, I'd want to hear about it and maybe see some pictures.

[luzula]

If I bound a fic, I might show the author? But for a published author, I'd feel weird. Probably because there's a greater distance between the author and reader in that situation, and also because in fandom there's a greater acceptance of transformative works, which this is maybe not, but it's similar.

[vatine]

On a purely personal level, I see no difference between this and (say) ripping a CD to MP3, OGG or whatever. Probably flies under the "personal format conversion" exception in most European copyright legislations (can check that if you want, but it may take a few months).

On the authorial level, I would be extremely flattered that someone found my work to be worthy of that much extra work. And possibly a bit worried, if it turned out they were doing it only with my ebooks.

[luzula]

Seems that way to me, too!

Ha ha, I'm not keeping to a single author. : ) Actually I'm mostly binding my own work and my friends', so far, but if there are published books I love which are only available as ebooks, it would be nice to make a bound copy.

[feroxargentea]

I'd be torn between being amused and thinking it a bit cheeky, given the relative prices of ebooks and paperbacks! But one book by one person is no matter either way.
(I should say, that's more of a commercial outlook. As a fan, I think it lovely.)

[luzula]

Actually when I bind a book, it's probably more expensive for me than to buy a paperback! At least so far, when I have splurged for the nice kind of paper. Anyway, this is more for when there is no printed book available and I'd like it in my bookcase.

[feroxargentea]

Oh I'm sure. But I meant the prices that reach the author, as I was considering it from their pov. Royalties for paperbacks, ebooks and audiobooks will be different. (Again, as a one-off it's irrelevant!)

[luzula]

Ah, okay! I would mostly be doing this when there is only an ebook available, anyway.