Creators and Critics Talk Comic Book Piracy and Its Effects

THREAD:
I know this may upset some people and get others riled up, but it's something I feel needs to be said.

Please please PLEASE do not pirate shows, comics, movies, etc. I know Ed Sheeran talked about how it helped his career, but that's a one in a million thing.

— Erica Schultz (@EricaSchultz42) November 20, 2019

How do you get your stuff taken off of a pirate site? CROWDED's up to 95,000 reads on one I just looked at, while I'm completely broke.

— Aw beans, it's Ted "Nibs" Brandt (@ten_bandits) November 24, 2019

Seriously. 95000 READS over the 10 issues. What the everloving f-ck. We've already had to shorten the book due to a lack of money.

— Aw beans, it's Ted "Nibs" Brandt (@ten_bandits) 24 November 2019

This royally pisses me off. People like that think they're stealing from a big company, but on an indie book they're just stealing from the team.

— Aw beans, it's Ted "Nibs" Brandt (@ten_bandits) 24 November 2019

I wish I hadn't looked. I always knew we would be pirated, and figured it would be a few thousand. Just shy of 6 figures is obscene, though. Especially for a book having to go to trade because it's not profitable.

— Aw beans, it's Ted "Nibs" Brandt (@ten_bandits) 24 November 2019

If you don't pay for my comics I don't get paid. My kids don't get food. You're not hurting a corporation, you're hurting my kids. There's 1000s of views on Olympia #1, which only came out a few days ago, on illegal sites – everyone of those views takes food off my kids' plates.

— Dee Cunniffe (@deezoid) November 25, 2019

I didn't want to do this, but I'm invoking the comic creator's curse:
If you pirate comics you could buy, your favorite b level character will appear in the next crossover, act out of character, then be brutally murdered to set the stakes for the event.
The ball's in your court.

— Jeremy Whitley @ No cons until March! (@jrome58) November 25, 2019

I'm not wading into this piracy thing except to say that if you love comics, please try to help the people who make them in any way you can

— Iván Brandon (@IvanBrandon) November 25, 2019

What comics pirates imagine comic creators look like… pic.twitter.com/sPOzwtDhM4

— PJ Holden (@pauljholden) November 24, 2019

Please don't pirate comics. If you can't afford them borrow them from a friend or request them at your local library. I know what it's like to not have a lot of money. It really does hurt creators though and screws us out of royalties and getting more work.

— 🎃Dave Scheidt 🎃 (@DaveScheidt) November 25, 2019

Seeing some folks arguing they pirate comics to try them before deciding if they continue or buy the comic.

I BUY the first issue and decide on that. Sometimes on ComiXology to save a bit. One issue isn't a back breaker

— Joe Glass 🏳️‍🌈Register to Vote!🏳️‍🌈 (@JosephGlass) November 24, 2019

You know who pirates comics?
Devin Nunes. Don't be like Devin Nunes.

— Chris Sotomayor (@SotoColor) November 25, 2019

I have yet to see a single justification for the piracy of comics that holds up. It's theft. Plain and simple. And you aren't stealing a thing you NEED. You're taking something you WANT because you CAN. If you want comics to stick around, you have to PAY the people who make them.

— Landry Quinn Walker (@LandryQWalker) November 24, 2019

I talked about this awhile back, but it bears repeating: #Comics creators aren't rich. We live and die based on sales. Piracy on just ONE site can eat 4x our sales.

If there's no #comicbook shop in your area, please buy our work on @ComiXology or ask your library to stock it. https://t.co/g7rpaQkXuM

— David Pepose — Preorder DEC191316 Today! (@Peposed) November 24, 2019

Positive counterpoint to the discussions about comics piracy and downloading – If you are someone who does buy and therefore support the work you enjoy, I hope you know you're wonderful. Supportive readers are the heroes of this industry – truth! x

— Emma Vieceli 🦋 (@Emmavieceli) November 25, 2019

Urgh, the amount of horseshit people spout to justify pirating stuff is unbelievable.

— GAIL SIMONE (@GailSimone) November 25, 2019

While there were plenty of online pirates who loved the book and wanted more it didn't help. The second series by Pete Milligan was scripted and I was ready to start then Virgin Comics closed. People lost their jobs. For me? $24000. But please… tell me about your entitlement 2/

— Gary Erskine (@garyerskine) November 25, 2019

Piracy has been a huge reason why nearly all of our creator owned work is available for free online. By stepping in front of it, we've been able to direct fans to our sites rather than pirate sites.

When our free comics are pirated, nothing infuriates me more.

— David Gallaher (@DavidGallaher) November 25, 2019

Stop pirating comics.
Full stop.
I don't want to hear your rationalizations. Support libraries, read free webcomics, go in with friends and share trades. If you actually care there are ways to do this.
If you pirate, but feel a little bad about it, let me be the one to say: stop. https://t.co/ADm081LZXA

— Amy Dallen (@enthusiamy) November 24, 2019

So. On comics piracy—I've seen 3 main types: 1) Lives in location with no (access to) shops, geo-blocked from digital platforms, 12 month delay on orders etc. 2) Wants comics now and doesn't pay for entertainment. 3) Leech now, buy later — all harm sales & longevity of series. pic.twitter.com/R8rR5YAdbl

— Tom Muller (@hellomuller) November 25, 2019

Just saw someone saying "So you're saying poor people shouldn't be able to torrent comic books? They can't afford them!" and it's like I feel you but this isn't a class war thing – torrenting comics is stealing from other poor people who make the comics so yeah, you shouldn't.

— Matt Miner (@MattMinerXVX) November 24, 2019

Pirating comics kills good comics.

As a creator myself I'd rather you not read a book I created than pirate it from somewhere and read it for free.

The idea that someone pirates an issue and then buys it later is utter bullshit that people say to make themselves feel better. https://t.co/zgsaLI4yfT

— Marc Lombardi (@marclombardi) November 24, 2019

the irony of a comics pirate site telling me to disable adblocker cause they need money for their site to work.. pic.twitter.com/6ZeyNqUk7z

— Joshua Hixson (@joshixson) 25 November 2019

Pirate my comics all you like. But don't say I didn't warn you when you find that I've moved into your garage.

— Fraser Campbell (@FraserC69) November 24, 2019

At the core of the comics piracy thing, what upsets me most is the people taking the time and effort to make the files shareable for seemingly no personal benefit.
Pirates in the real world at reap some benefit from theft. These assholes just hurt the creators they're robbing.

— Richard Pace @Galaxycon Louisville Nov. 22-24th (@rpace) November 26, 2019

Please don't pirate comics!
Indie comic creators do not get paid off salary, a lot of us survive off our sales.
If you want comics to keep being made then you absolutely have to support the people making them. https://t.co/rvWIQxZQt0

— Emily Pearson (@emishlyart) 24 November 2019

I'm not really trynna fight about this but I really don't like this take. The corporations can cover it, but the creators can't. Look at manga, and how piracy is so entrenched that good series die on the vine while fans read on aggregators. Comics is comics, piracy is piracy. pic.twitter.com/6jAYqQHiqD

— d a v i d (every tweet i write is 25 to life) (@hermanos) November 24, 2019

The comics piracy thing: large general sigh. But the part that really hits me is the idea that anyone is entitled to someone else's work. It. Is. Entertainment. Except unlike other forms, we make f-cking nothing off it. So pay for it…or entertain yourself elsewhere.

— Sarah Brunstad ︽✵︽ (@MightyBrunstad) November 26, 2019

Piracy is a very depressing reality in any media industry but it's especially sad in comics because in the grand scheme of things, most comics are created by small teams with fairly low overhead and don't require the same kinds of returns as other forms of media to be profitable.

— Jen Bartel (@heyjenbartel) November 24, 2019

The comics piracy thing: large general sigh. But the part that really hits me is the idea that anyone is entitled to someone else's work. It. Is. Entertainment. Except unlike other forms, we make f-cking nothing off it. So pay for it…or entertain yourself elsewhere.

— Sarah Brunstad ︽✵︽ (@MightyBrunstad) November 26, 2019

I'm noticing a sense of entitlement with the piracy discussion.

Audiences feel entitled to read books and comics or watch movies without paying for them.

….well, imagine how the creators feel, who MADE that stuff. Shouldn't they be entitled to be paid for entertaining you?

— Ant is Doing NaNoWriMo… (@AGramuglia) November 25, 2019

In the early days of online piracy, media that went viral in those channels could benefit from the visibility boost.

Nowadays most of it is rapid consumption that never leads to support. Digital content is quick and disposable. On to the next show, game, comic. Rinse and repeat.

— Jim Zub (@JimZub) November 25, 2019

The amount of people that go to cons and pass on buying a book in person and claim "I'll just read it online" and PIRATE IT, are the reasons why most of us hardly make a living wage in comics. https://t.co/DgyFUcmjd5

— Liana Kangas (@lianakangas) November 24, 2019

Comics and RPGs are particularly vulnerable because the digital files are small compared to video and both industries tend to be on that sales bubble where a serious drop can lead to cancellation.

— Jim Zub (@JimZub) November 25, 2019

No, I don't have some incredible foolproof solution.
Neither do the biggest media companies on the planet.

Raising awareness of it is a double-edged sword, but not saying anything feels like making it permissive.

— Jim Zub (@JimZub) November 25, 2019

I don't want pirate readers to think it's no big deal or victimless. I want them to know they're hurting an industry they claim to be a fan of.

It doesn't matter if it's corporate comics, creator-owned, or manga.

Content worth reading is content worth supporting.

— Jim Zub (@JimZub) November 25, 2019

Also, creators, one of the most common question you'll be asked is where readers can go to support your work.

Create a landing page with that info nicely organized and you'll save a lot of time and could help foster new readers.

Here's mine:https://t.co/1GftcxRZUw

— Jim Zub (@JimZub) November 25, 2019

Not sure who said this but it's a bad take and betrays a misunderstanding of how "giant corporations" work. No one is getting "covered" if a book doesn't sell. If comics aren't profitable, they're cancelled. People get laid off. Piracy hurts everyone at every level and size. pic.twitter.com/1s2aGxaTNp

— Andy Khouri (@andykhouri) November 24, 2019

The amount of people I've seen openly defending comics piracy today is gross. There's no excuse. It's not a victimless crime. Use ComiXology. Use a library if money is an issue. If you love comics that much, you'll help the industry and it's creators.

— Chris Shehan_Art (@ChrisShehanArt) November 24, 2019

Lots of talk about #comics pirates in the Twitterverse today. Buy what you can afford, but c'mon, people, you're really not a fan if you steal!
The only stealing Pirate I want to see is the great one, Roberto Clemente. Yes, he stole (bases). But he was a most giving man! pic.twitter.com/Mp1XdGHRBo

— Joe Field (@flycojoe) November 26, 2019

And I think you'll find that no significant work of social change begins with the devaluing of art and artists. This conversation began because my friends can't make rent while if just 1% of the people who pirate their work bough it instead they could.

— Matthew Rosenberg (@AshcanPress) November 25, 2019

Not sure why everybody is talking about pirate comics today but you can read all about pirates (in the Archie Comics style, of course) on @HooplaDigital for free with your library card: https://t.co/SkWmoVSv50

😉🏴‍☠️ pic.twitter.com/PcTPhTp8Wx

— Archie Comics (@ArchieComics) November 25, 2019

Because creators need receipts! They need tangible evidence of their popularity that they can take to a potential new employer as evidence of why they should be hired for that next gig. Piracy cannot provide that. It takes from the creator to give nothing in return.

— Cheryl Lynn Eaton (@cheryllynneaton) 26 November 2019

for the record, i'm a content producer, and i care precisely zero about people getting around paying for my work. people are welcome to pirate the hell out of any and all of my creator-owned works. so you're making this argument to the wrong person.

— Mags the Merciless (@MagsVisaggs) June 30, 2019

Comics are in fact stupidly expensive and hard to get in a lot of countries. I dont begrudge comic pirates in like South America. In the US though, with American comics, there's not really an execuse.

— Sarah Horrocks (@mercurialblonde) November 25, 2019

I am well aware that the majority of piracy is undertaken by those who can afford to purchase creative media.

But I am equally aware that for those struggling to survive on a pittance, a life without creative media is a horrific ideal to be upheld.

— thal (@thalestral) November 24, 2019

Psst, if your takeaway from this is "you said piracy is fine!" I suggest reflecting on the fact that I did not in fact say that

and thank you for the reminder that twitter is indeed dogshit for any discourse more complex than "lol" 👍 pic.twitter.com/OMDZsN8z17

— thal (@thalestral) November 25, 2019

As someone who is probably lost thousands due to comics piracy over the years, I'm glad to see the new class notice it. Now you too can wrestle with the idea that there is virtually nothing that can be done about it.

— 🍺MIKE NORTON🍺 (@themikenorton) November 25, 2019

More important is identifying where in the chain that files for #comics are being pirated. We're not talking scans. These are people being fed final digital files. So where is that happening; final production, at the printers, from retailer previews? https://t.co/kMcaYKamYK

— The War On Christmas (@kwanzer) November 26, 2019