stealing

One of the things I love about America is our public library system. How incredible is it that I don't always have to buy a book if I want to read it. I'm not a student, but there is still a library available to me, free of charge, to read books as often and as much as I want.

Recently I bought and read a book that is very popular. There are more in the series, but to check one out from the library, I would have to go on the waiting list, where I would be number 896. I googled the book to see if I could find it cheaper online (as opposed to Target's hardback only copy) and found where someone had actually posted the book online. I know those books are the authors income. To post something like that online is to essentially steal the book. But I read it anyway.

Since then, I've been pondering that whole scenario. Had I waited and checked it out at the library, that author still would not have earned one penny from me. Had I borrowed it from a friend, that author would not have earned one dime. Had I found it at the used bookstore where I occasionally go and swap books, that author would not have received even a notification. So is it really all that different for someone who has purchased the book to post it online for people to read?  I'm still debating that fact.