Copyright infringement

As I was catching up on the news this morning (I read all the news online because I don't have time to watch the nightly news) I saw a headline about Stephanie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series. Since I love everything Twilight, I had to check it out. It turns out that one of the transcripts of her novel Midnight Sun got leaked on the internet by a trusted friend and she is now so upset by it that she will not finish the book and has instead posted the transcript on her website. I was very upset after reading this, first of all because I was really looking forward to this book. For those of you who don't know, Midnight Sun is the retelling of the story of Twilight, but from Edwards point of view. She has had the first chapter posted on her website for quite some time and I thoroughly enjoyed it and was really looking forward to the whole book.

The other part that upsets me is that it seems we as a society have started to condone stealing. How many of us have downloaded a song for free, copied a friend's DVD or CD, or found something online way before it was supposed to be released and watched, read, or listened to it anyway? I think we forget that these things are copyrighted and we are taking money away from the artists each time we do it. I know the usual argument is how everything is just so expensive and these people are making so much money that it's not really going to hurt them, but that's not really the point. I have to admit that I used to have the same opinion until my husband taught a lesson on honesty at church which really changed his mind and mine. It's not always about the money we spend or the the amount of money the other person is making, it's about being honest with your fellow man.

Anyway, I haven't decided if I'm going to read the transcript that she has posted on her website as it is not the finished product and it's not how she intended it to be released. As much as I want to read the story, I also feel badly for how this turned out for her. My biggest hope is that she will decide to finish it eventually for herself and for her fans.