What is the true cost of piracy to an independent creator?
I just saw a torrent site that had more than a thousand illegal downloads of my Photoshop Megapack … in 24 hours. Seriously, how many people use Photoshop out there?! I mean, of course I’m upset, but I’m equally baffled by this number - I didn’t realize that many people had an interest in making digital art. It’s nuts.
Artists stealing from artists. I can’t understand it.
And I am always afraid to raise my already insultingly low prices BECAUSE I am afraid of more piracy. So, what am I supposed to do here?
The sad truth is that I either DO need to raise prices to make up for the gross number of thefts and keep my income stream from diminishing (which would, of course, make them less affordable for students and young pros), or I need to completely change the business model somehow to somehow fight piracy. I don’t know how to change it, exactly, but since piracy of my products has been steadily increasing every year since I started, I need to figure something out.
Final thought: If just 5% of those people had bought legally, I’d have made $750 today. Okay, okay - that thought will definitely not improve my mood.
If you are a victim of piracy of your creative products, and you have some thoughts on this topic, I welcome them in comment form. Also, if you agree that this behavior is disgusting, and that we artists should be supporting one another, rather than acting like cannibals, then PLEASE REBLOG. Perhaps, if we make a little noise, it will at least make people reconsider using torrent sites when they realize that working artists are behind all of the creative products they love: music, art, film - all of it.
Thanks for reading.
- Kyle
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