My opinion about piracy

I posted this on my Facebook a while ago but after last recent issues, I must post it here as well.

I'm open for discussions but don't expect me to be really talkative because, first, English is not my first language, and second, I'd rather draw more and discuss less.

So, first of all, I'm going to try to explain what's "piracy" for me. I might be wrong but that's the way I see it.

For me, "piracy" involves "business". Money. Someone stealing your work and earning benefits with your efforts. I don't consider someone who buys a CD music/DVD/Comic/Book and posts it in the net FOR FREE a "pirate", nor a theft. Unless they're claiming being the authors or considering they have the right to print/record that stuff and sell it, I don't think they're doing a really "bad work".

Lemme put an example: Recently, my Arena comic was "pirated" and posted online translated into Russian in a popular website there. At the beginning I felt really angry, but then I started to "read" the comments in that website regarding my comic and surprisingly got really good feedbacks. Not to add that many people were asking where to buy the books because they wanted the paperback version in their hands, even in English.

All that big Russian community, thanks to those scanlators/translators KNEW about me (and not only Arena but also the rest of my works, because the books were posted properly credited with links and everything), something that couldn't have really happened when my books were being published only in USA. They gave me promotion, and they also worked hard for the translation (which is, from what I could understand, GREAT. They even added extra notes explaining some terms I didn't). If Russian people don't want to buy my books because they have them for free, they wouldn't buy them either if they didn't know about me before.

They're just fans that wanted to spread my work into a country that will NEVER license legally my comics. I call it "SHARING", not piracy.

However, this would have been terribly annoying if they were selling my comic. Yes, they did some work by translating it BUT I am the owner of it, I am the one who takes decisions about it and, hell!! I was the one that spent hours and hours of work! THAT'S PIRACY for me, because they would have been making profits from my work and earning a money they don't deserve (unless they gave me a part - which would be a great deal, I must say XD).

So, this is what I think about this "delicate" theme. I'm myself an author. And yes, I download stuff for free from the net when I cannot afford it. Then, if I like it enough and save money enough, I end up by buying it legally. I am not one of those persons that say "if I have it for free, I'm not gonna buy it". Nope. I am one of those that think that you should pay for what you like a lot.

Hope that anything of this makes sense!!