Quite right, and the fact that libraries exist and thus expose people to literature actually makes it more likely they will then go buy books. Like I mentioned much earlier in the thread, I only illegally download that which I cannot legally download - if Amazon sells an MP3 album, I won't even think about pirating it (and I've spent more than $300 dollars on music in the last month alone) - but what I didn't mention is I then burn copies of the music I've legally purchased for various acquaintances to 'borrow indefinitely'.ZerOmega said:
In terms of impact to the revenue stream of the music industry, doing that is every bit as injurious as me just straight up downloading without paying for it in the first place, but because I did that, the various obscure bands I've exposed those individuals to have gained new fans who are now much much much more likely to buy stuff from them now - for example, a coworker just attended a concert for a group I introduced her to the other day, specifically because now she knew she really liked them.
There's a reason a lot of musicians are quite vocal in their support for file-sharing, as it can greatly expand their potential fanbase and thus lead to increased revenues - knowing conclusively that you like something is added incentive to support the artist with your revenues in the future, and the people who never would have paid for anything you produce are sitting firmly in the "non-customer" camp.
