http://www.mhpbooks.

com/sribd-is-fuckd-say-writers/

March 30, 2009

Sribd is fuckd, say writers

by Dennis Johnson

Publishers, agents, and authors such as J.K. Rowling, Nick Hornby, John Grisham, Salman Rusdie, Ian Mc wan, !ra"ind !diga and Ken #olle$$ were alarmed yesterday to learn that the American website Scribd has been posting entire copies of their books for free dowload. As Dan Sabbagh reports in a story for The Times of London, the site calls itself the most popular literary site in the world and attracts !! million "isitors a month, many drawn by the chance to download "ersions of books by popular authors that ha"e been uploaded on to the website without the consent of the writer or publisher. And indeed, #abbagh reports finding books by all of the abo"e named authors, such as $owling%s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. A Guardian report by !lison #lood adds that &nternet users can not only read free copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, The White Tiger and World Without End at #cribd.com, but also download the te't onto their computers to edit as they see fit. According to The Times, #cribd was set up by %ri& !dler and Jared #riedman, Har"ard students in their early twenties, and in two years has become the '(ou%ube for books%, helped by ()* million +,-.. million/ of financing. &t makes money from ad"ertising but pays no royalties to authors. A spokesperson says the company operates on a notice and takedown system, which means it will take down books 0 if they%re asked. 1his makes the site compliant with the )S Digi$al Millennium *o&yrigh$ !c$, which means that the site is not held liable for actions of its users of which it is not aware. 2ut many in the publishing community say this is not enough. 334 of writers aren%t aware it%s going on, bestselling science fcition author *hris$o&her +ries$ tells The Guardian. Priest says he disco"ered a copy of one of his books, The Affirmation, on the site and demanded it be taken down. #cribd.com were "ery courteous and immediately took it down, but since then it%s gone up again, he says. &t%s "ery annoying 0 &%m a writer and & write for a li"ing, & don%t want to ha"e to do this. 5eanwhile, 6. 7. $owling%s lawyer Neil ,lair says he%s looking into actioning against #cribd, 8ollet%s publisher Macmillan is looking into this, and Ara"ind Adiga%s publisher, %oby Mundy at !$lan$ic ,ooks, says that Adiga%s publishers around the world would be taking action. 9e%re in the copyright business, 5undy tells The Guardian. 9e can%t be complacent about this.

5any, in fact, echo what literary agent +e$er *o- tells The Times: 1hese people are pirates. 9e don%t ha"e to gi"e in to this. 9e can%t afford to make the same mistakes the music industry did. Dennis Johnson is the founder of Moby i!es, and the co-founder and co-"ublisher of Mel!ille House.

2 Comments
). Saurabh at -:.! pm on 6anuary ):, *;); iam also a writer and i dont find it right to publish any itellectual property without the knowledge of creater, some write their e'periences, some their ideologies but some <ust wanna read, and i appreciate this act as resources are limited for many countries and reading through sites like is the only option they ha"e got.2ut their should be some compliance to it. *. Saurabh at -:.! pm on 6anuary ):, *;); iam also a writer and i dont find it right to publish any itellectual property without the knowledge of creater, some write their e'periences, some their ideologies but some <ust wanna read, and i appreciate this act as resources are limited for many countries and reading through sites like is the only option they ha"e got.2ut their should be some compliance to it.