Now, I know that everyone has been looking for RJ on EBOOKS, and after over a year of searching, I finally got the whole series up to "By the Sword" downloaded off of a torrent! It took THREE weeks, since there was only 4 people seeding the blasted thing, and I had to search around after I got it downloaded, and I had to go through a large hassle just to get it unzipped and paste it into a PDF format, but I got it done!
The torrent was a "10,000 Scifi and horror" books type of torrent, and it had some other books by Ben Bova and Ellison, but none by Arthur C. Clark or Ray Bradbury, which is what I wanted. It had a ton of books by people that I never heard of, but I kept them in zipped format in my Ebooks folder! Now, I'll have something to read in my old age!
There wasn't any other F. Paul Wilson novels, like "The Touch" or "Nightworld", so I have to keep looking. I have both the hardcover and paperback editions of the RJ series, and I just wanted to have these as backups in case a fire destroys my storage unit, or my house, or both! And I can always get them from the library, if I lose everything I have backed up, even though my library doesn't have "Reborn", not even a listing in their systems! And I sure as HELL was not going to donate MY copies! hehehehe.
Anyway, I know how some people feel about Ebooks, but there is another side to that. I wanted to get some mystery novels I have in print to be backed up on PDF in my computer, and didn't want to spend 2 or 3 hours PER BOOK scanning them, so I had to pay 5.00 for one book, 7.50 for the second book, and 11.00 for the third book, just to download them into the NEW digital PDF format, which is similar to the LIT format, you cannot copy the text to anything, and you cannot convert the text to any other format, so that is good protection for the author (s). The paperbacks were only 4.95 at Borders, and I thought that at 3 hours or so, my time would be worth ALOT more than that. So I would be happy just paying the fees and saving alot of time that I really cannot afford to waste scanning books!

Anyway, just wanted to let you people know that they are "out there"

Lexator

Now, I know that everyone has been looking for RJ on EBOOKS, and after over a year of searching, I finally got the whole series up to "By the Sword" downloaded off of a torrent! It took THREE weeks, since there was only 4 people seeding the blasted thing, and I had to search around after I got it downloaded, and I had to go through a large hassle just to get it unzipped and paste it into a PDF format, but I got it done!
The torrent was a "10,000 Scifi and horror" books type of torrent, and it had some other books by Ben Bova and Ellison, but none by Arthur C. Clark or Ray Bradbury, which is what I wanted. It had a ton of books by people that I never heard of, but I kept them in zipped format in my Ebooks folder! Now, I'll have something to read in my old age!
There wasn't any other F. Paul Wilson novels, like "The Touch" or "Nightworld", so I have to keep looking. I have both the hardcover and paperback editions of the RJ series, and I just wanted to have these as backups in case a fire destroys my storage unit, or my house, or both! And I can always get them from the library, if I lose everything I have backed up, even though my library doesn't have "Reborn", not even a listing in their systems! And I sure as HELL was not going to donate MY copies! hehehehe.
Anyway, I know how some people feel about Ebooks, but there is another side to that. I wanted to get some mystery novels I have in print to be backed up on PDF in my computer, and didn't want to spend 2 or 3 hours PER BOOK scanning them, so I had to pay 5.00 for one book, 7.50 for the second book, and 11.00 for the third book, just to download them into the NEW digital PDF format, which is similar to the LIT format, you cannot copy the text to anything, and you cannot convert the text to any other format, so that is good protection for the author (s). The paperbacks were only 4.95 at Borders, and I thought that at 3 hours or so, my time would be worth ALOT more than that. So I would be happy just paying the fees and saving alot of time that I really cannot afford to waste scanning books!

Anyway, just wanted to let you people know that they are "out there"

Lexator

Sweet. I like to read paperbacks because they are small, and I don't have to be so careful with them. The electronic stuf doesn't interest me, yet.

Now, I know that everyone has been looking for RJ on EBOOKS, and after over a year of searching, I finally got the whole series up to "By the Sword" downloaded off of a torrent! It took THREE weeks, since there was only 4 people seeding the blasted thing, and I had to search around after I got it downloaded, and I had to go through a large hassle just to get it unzipped and paste it into a PDF format, but I got it done!
The torrent was a "10,000 Scifi and horror" books type of torrent, and it had some other books by Ben Bova and Ellison, but none by Arthur C. Clark or Ray Bradbury, which is what I wanted. It had a ton of books by people that I never heard of, but I kept them in zipped format in my Ebooks folder! Now, I'll have something to read in my old age!
There wasn't any other F. Paul Wilson novels, like "The Touch" or "Nightworld", so I have to keep looking. I have both the hardcover and paperback editions of the RJ series, and I just wanted to have these as backups in case a fire destroys my storage unit, or my house, or both! And I can always get them from the library, if I lose everything I have backed up, even though my library doesn't have "Reborn", not even a listing in their systems! And I sure as HELL was not going to donate MY copies! hehehehe.
Anyway, I know how some people feel about Ebooks, but there is another side to that. I wanted to get some mystery novels I have in print to be backed up on PDF in my computer, and didn't want to spend 2 or 3 hours PER BOOK scanning them, so I had to pay 5.00 for one book, 7.50 for the second book, and 11.00 for the third book, just to download them into the NEW digital PDF format, which is similar to the LIT format, you cannot copy the text to anything, and you cannot convert the text to any other format, so that is good protection for the author (s). The paperbacks were only 4.95 at Borders, and I thought that at 3 hours or so, my time would be worth ALOT more than that. So I would be happy just paying the fees and saving alot of time that I really cannot afford to waste scanning books!

Anyway, just wanted to let you people know that they are "out there"

Lexator

These aren't legit copies though are they? I mean, the author doesn't receive payment for the purchase of torrent novels.

I guess you could use the argument that the author doesn't get royalties when the books are purchased from a second-hand store or dealer.

However, the books you downloaded, especially the more recent Jack novels, are still in print and I doubt this format is authorized by the publisher.

I know you purchased copies legitimately, but advertising this on the board may lead others to seek out this means as an alternative to purchasing legal copies.

Just saying.

These aren't legit copies though are they? I mean, the author doesn't receive payment for the purchase of torrent novels.

I guess you could use the argument that the author doesn't get royalties when the books are purchased from a second-hand store or dealer.

However, the books you downloaded, especially the more recent Jack novels, are still in print and I doubt this format is authorized by the publisher.

I know you purchased copies legitimately, but advertising this on the board may lead others to seek out this means as an alternative to purchasing legal copies.

Just saying.

Owning free downloads is rarely legal.

Using a free torrent or free download of ANY book, without owning a copy of that same edition, is most likely illegal, whether it is out of print or not...out of print does not mean the copyright has lapsed...in Canada, unlike the USA, copyright is eternal, for example. If memory serves, the US law is: 50 years before a work is copyright free. None of FPW's work is 50 years out of print.

Any self-respecting fan, of which the members of this board should all be, would not steal the sweat off FPW's back by pirating his work. If you deserve to be paid for your work, then so does FPW.

While you can say that you are downloading e-copies of FPW's work for backup purposes, free e-copies, in my experience, are poorly presented copies of early editions with many, many examples of run-together words. For example, I have yet to find the TOR revision of The Tomb or the Borderlands Press Adversary Cycle collector's editions in e-copy. I would love to have a backup copy of my collectors' editions but they are not out there...for free.

However, keeping a free e-copy of an edition that does not match your physical edition is also illegal. You paid for the edition you can hold in your hand, not some other one. They must be identical to qualify as "archival use."

Research purposes, another reason to have/make a copy, is only legal if you are doing legitimate research for criticism or some other type of analysis.

Protecting your collection from catastrophe is what insurance is for. Copies of most of FPW's past work can be had for reasonable prices (particularly for paperbacks) on Amazon or AbeBooks...your insurance policy should cover it.

If you had no insurance for whatever reason, ask FPW. He may be sympathetic and send you copies of some or all, for free. Heck, he reputedly offered Bluesman Mike a copy of Nightworld, so why not ask?

Your public library should have free copies. If not, complain and they should buy them.

If you want a copy to store off-site in case of a disaster, buy the PBs, second hand, for reading and store your collector's hardcovers off-site, in a safe place where accidents are less likely to happen.

Only FPW can give someone permission to have a free reading copy...he (and in some cases his publishers) own the copyrights.

If you love FPW's work, you will not pirate it.

-Wapitikev

PS-I think this pretty much covers it, but I welcome any correction or elaboration that Biggles or other legal begals on the board can offer the discussion.

Owning free downloads is rarely legal.

Using a free torrent or free download of ANY book, without owning a copy of that same edition, is most likely illegal, whether it is out of print or not...out of print does not mean the copyright has lapsed...in Canada, unlike the USA, copyright is eternal, for example. If memory serves, the US law is: 50 years before a work is copyright free. None of FPW's work is 50 years out of print.

In the U.S., copyrights can be renewed.

The original copyright is good for 28 years, and the renewal is good for another 47 years -- 75 years total.

And even that can be extended for another 20 years.

THE KEEP was copyrighted in 1981, and I'm sure Paul has renewed the copyright which would have expired last year.

But the Library of congress is often quite slow in publishing which copyrights have been renewed.

Better check with Paul about the copyright extension.

I'm sure you're right Kev, that "download" is probably illegal.

Ken V.

Better check with Paul about the copyright extension.

Ken V.

I could be wrong, but I thought that was one of the reasons that The Keep was republished last year (September, I believe) in paperback. (I seem to recall Paul posting the new cover, last summer).

FPW? What is The Keep's copyright status?

-Wapitikev

I could be wrong, but I thought that was one of the reasons that The Keep was republished last year (September, I believe) in paperback. (I seem to recall Paul posting the new cover, last summer).

I'm sure it's still under copyright, but it never hurts to have confirmation.

FPW? What is The Keep's copyright status?

Echo's.

Ken V.

I'm sure you're right Kev, that "download" is probably illegal.

Ken V.

I decided, back in March, I would price out a scanner and ocr all the Adversary series into the PC in order to assist in creating Wiki's for Stephanie's fan-wiki site.

As this was for research (building an index and concordance) I was not overly concerned with copyright infringement.

I began doing research on a good OCR scanner...and soon found the most affordable one that would meet my needs was over $1000.

So I waited for the price to come down.

Epson released a scanner earlier this month that is only $600 and has an additional $150 rebate until June 30. Omnipage would be another $200 on top of that.

I was about to buy everything and begin weeks of scanning, to say nothing of the destruction of my paperbacks, when I thought of this thread.

So I devoted Monday afternoon to seeing what I could gather from the net, instead.

In a few short hours I had copies of everything from Secret History of the World, except 4 of the novels, the novellete and the majority of the short stories.

Out of respect for FPW I will not encourage pirates further by detailing my methods.

So, instead of spending hundreds of dollars and countless hours scanning the works, I am currently indexing (manually) The Keep thanks to the book piracy industry.

I am consoled somewhat by the fact that I am making a legal use (research) of illegal copies.

However, that does little to diminish my outrage that these works were all available, for no fee, in the first place.

-Wapitikev

On the podcast I host we had a writer as a guest and I was shocked to learn that he encourages pirating (Bit-torrent downloading) of his works. He said the publicity is better than the paycheck and if people read his work and like him then they will eventually pay for hard copies.

I can see things from that side of the table just a little bit. When we post it on Sunday I will let you guys know and you can listen to it. Pretty interesting stuff from a pretty popular author.

He was full of surprises.

On the podcast I host we had a writer as a guest and I was shocked to learn that he encourages pirating (Bit-torrent downloading) of his works. He said the publicity is better than the paycheck and if people read his work and like him then they will eventually pay for hard copies.

I can see things from that side of the table just a little bit. When we post it on Sunday I will let you guys know and you can listen to it. Pretty interesting stuff from a pretty popular author.

He was full of surprises.

Ok, but that is a case where the author has given his blessing to that use of his work...that means that copyright is not being infringed.

The final say should be up to the copyright holder, not the end user that has the power to do something but not the rights to do it.

-Wapitikev