the blog
We Knew This Would Happen
by bruce
February 5, 2010 | Life | 6 responses
When The House Studio opened its doors, our main goal was to help churches in their ministries. This is still our main goal today. And from the outset, we have had a lot of discussions about how to make the products we create as affordable as possible, and relevant to contemporary society. Because part of this relevancy is making use of digital copies and ancillary material, we have always known there would be those who choose to take the digital material intended for individuals and offer it to others.
So, as the number of our new releases increases, we’d love to hear your feedback about this. As an individual in the local church who feels the pinch of asking individuals to spend hard-earned money on a study book, what’s your position?
- Do you feel it’s a publisher’s responsibility to let people distribute multiple copies of single-purchase items?
- Is it ok for a church to put the digital pages on its web site for everyone in its congregation to use?
- Is it different for a church vs. an individual?
If you’re answer is yes to any of these, we’d be interested in hearing your ideas for how to stay in business if we’re not selling the copies being used. If you’re answer is no, we’d love to hear your thoughts about how you’d approach making sure it doesn’t happen.
source: ntr23
— Do you feel it’s a publisher’s responsibility to let people distribute multiple copies of single-purchase items? ///////////// I would like to see some value-added companion resources available for free download, but that would be marginally useful outside of having a bought-copy of the parent material. For instance, wallet-sized printouts of the experiments for the KE study would help people keep the experiments in front of them during life.
— Is it ok for a church to put the digital pages on its web site for everyone in its congregation to use? ///////////// No, it's not OK. But, if the above mentioned resources are not available, churches are going to be compelled to do what it takes to augment the material, which could mean that excerpts, in the least, are going to be made available to their folks.
— Is it different for a church vs. an individual? ///////////// Right is right, wrong is wrong. But, if you sell great, affordable products (which you do), and provide amazingly;y useful companion resources (which you might want to improve), the temptation to infringe is reduced.
NO.
NO.
and
NO.
Churches are notoriously ignorant/irresponsible/downright diabolical when it comes to copyright infringement. Many act out of ignorance and do not think through the consequences of freely distributing the work of small businesses (ie those supplying the resources go out of business because too few people are actually paying for the goods). Many are irresponsible in that they kind of know what they’re doing is wrong but figure if they don’t know the law or don’t look into it then they’re not REALLY guilty. The downright diabolical figure that, because those supplying the material are Christians, they won’t sue them.
I think you are on the right track, though. Open communication is always the right first step. And perhaps you’ll get more practical feedback like Herb’s that will help you find out why the infringing is happening, leading you to better serve your audience and create additional resources.
But there’s still no good excuse for it, and I think you guys owe it to your paying customers to follow up with any non-paying customers and say, whaddup?!?
I'm not exactly saying it's feasible for The House to do so… but I have heard about a restaurant (I think it's in NY – wow this response is really credible already isn't it?), that doesn't have their meals priced on a menu. They ask customers to pay "What they feel is a good price for the meal they had." While the experiment could have been catastrophic for the company, it pushes them to really have a GREAT product that in turn the consumer feels good about spending their money on. Rather than what we as onlookers may expect of the dine and dashers, or short changing the restaurant because of cheapskates, to their surprise their profit has grown tremendously.
Like I said, it may not be a feasible approach for ALL of The House's books/products, but it's an interesting tactic especially if there is a large amount of product just sitting somewhere. If you were to allow this type of business exchange, would it push more people to actually buy a hard copy book rather than "steal" or "distribute" digital copies?
I agree with Amy. IF House is trying to be different than the status quo, and IF the House is believing that this is God's ministry… then why not let the internet be your asset for distribution and stop worrying about getting paid? I realize I make no business sense, but if you let go of this worry, think about the potential!!! Isn't House and experiment? (:
YES, in todays digital age I feel it IS the publishers responsibility to let purchasers distribute (albeit locally,.. SS group/class) multiple copies of a product, BUT just make the product multiple use and charge a bit more… It's like charging a bit extra for the loss you know you'll take. It's normal business practice. And it will allow you to keep costs relatively low for the consumer with less restrictions for them. It seems to be an equitable deal.
Churches ARE regularly ignorant or choose to completely disregard copyrights. As someone who's worked IN church I can say infringement happens all the time. Unfortunately. That being said, also as a business person who has a photography business on the side, I charge extra for digital copies. Because I KNOW the person will take the digital and go get a bunch of prints made. If an unframed print costs $12.00 a digital copy can cost $35.00. This seems to me a good way for HOUSE to continue to make profit, but also allow people a license to distribute within their local congregation. This is just a suggestion and I would love to hear HOUSE's thoughts.
Intrigued by that idea Nick. Of course I have heard of this before, and even done it a few times in other arenas. Would you expect to see two products offered side by side–one a book WITH copyright permission, and one WITHOUT? Or just one product at a higher price?