In a BookBaby post from last month, Chris Robley weighed in on the ebook piracy issue, discussing an NeoMam Studios produced infographic that also appeared in an Encremento story. The bottom line: fears about ebook piracy are vastly overstated. Among the raft of supporting statistics:

  • 75% of ebooks in the US are bought, not copied or downloaded for free.
  • 69% of ebook owners purchased all the books in their collection
  • Tor Books UK reported there was no discernible increase in piracy of its books after removing DRM from all titles for a year.
  • JK Rowling famously withheld publishing Harry Potter ebooks for several years, citing fears of ebook piracy. The ebook were eventually released DRM-free and sales hit $4.8 million the first month, despite rampant piracy. Physical book sales also rose sharply at the same time.

The concluding quote from the infographic:

What remains true is that many sellers are discovering that readers are willing to pay for the real deal—as long as the deal is good.

Definitely a point worth considering. . .

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