What is the true cost of piracy to an independent creator?
I just saw a torrent site that had more than a thousand illegal downloads of my Photoshop Megapack ⌠in 24 hours. Seriously, how many people use Photoshop out there?! I mean, of course Iâm upset, but Iâm equally baffled by this number - I didnât realize that many people had an interest in making digital art. Itâs nuts.
Artists stealing from artists. I canât understand it.
And I am always afraid to raise my already insultingly low prices BECAUSE I am afraid of more piracy. So, what am I supposed to do here?Â
The sad truth is that I either DO need to raise prices to make up for the gross number of thefts and keep my income stream from diminishing (which would, of course, make them less affordable for students and young pros), or I need to completely change the business model somehow to somehow fight piracy. I donât know how to change it, exactly, but since piracy of my products has been steadily increasing every year since I started, I need to figure something out.
Final thought: If just 5% of those people had bought legally, Iâd have made $750 today. Okay, okay - that thought will definitely not improve my mood.
If you are a victim of piracy of your creative products, and you have some thoughts on this topic, I welcome them in comment form. Also, if you agree that this behavior is disgusting, and that we artists should be supporting one another, rather than acting like cannibals, then PLEASE REBLOG. Perhaps, if we make a little noise, it will at least make people reconsider using torrent sites when they realize that working artists are behind all of the creative products they love: music, art, film - all of it.
Thanks for reading. - Kyle
Guys, seriously. I use these brushes and pay the ridiculously low price for them. Â Whether itâs an torrent of a movie or one of my Darkwing comics or these brushes. Taking these for free is stealing.
You all follow the wisdom of Ian Malcom, right? I think he said it best (paraphrasing)âŚ
âYou were so preoccupied with if you could do something, you didnât stop to think if you SHOULDâ
Sorry for the re-blog but this sort of thing really really pisses me off.
I use @kyletwebster brushes on literally a daily basis, and I have more top quality brushes than I know what to do with. All at a stupidly low price. On top of that, Kyle updates his mega brush pack for free on a regular basis, and my brush collection has gotten to the point where I donât actually have enough time to use each and every brush made available for free to me after I actually bought the brush pack.
I canât think of a single situation in any of my paintings where I would need a brush that Kyle hasnât already made for me and that works better than any brush I could make. Even for non-pro or student artists, seriously, $15 for an ever growing brush set  (and thatâs assuming you go for the most expensive pack) of studio grade tools is ridiculously cheap. It wouldnât even cover most peoples weekly spend at Starbucks.
Just buy the bloody brush packs. If youâre in the market for one, youâll not find anything better at any price, and picking Kyleâs pocket to save a few bills is such a dick move.
/rant off
-Alex
