[This was/is written for a thread on a file sharing site where my work has been pirated.]
Hello. It's Me (though I won't use D/s after this) and this is my file being stolen. I'm not here to yell.
I'm not a company. I'm an individual sex worker who makes her living solely through her work.
I'm also a gamer, I've been on the internet for an awfully long time, and I don't think I'm unreasonable...at least I hope not. :)
I don't know how much theft impacts me. I don't know if I'm losing sales because people are downloading something they would've bought...or if it's purely people who wouldn't have bought anyway. Since I'm not a company, but just myself...it's difficult to tell.
One of my big concerns is that unlike big music names where piracy actually helps them in many ways, it doesn't with me. I'm not a 'big name', and I also don't ID myself and where to find/buy my work on every recording because I find that to be intrusive to the listener. But it also means that a theft doesn't mean additional sales because there's no identification as such on the files to upsell.
There's also a part of me that's flattered by this too, I'll be perfectly honest. The thought 'Woot, I'm good enough to steal' did run through my mind. :)
But it also creates worries too. Recording sales are a very substantial part of my income. I don't want to make changes that are considerably more work to me, and I don't want to make changes that would adversely impact the people who ARE paying.
So what do I do? Just send out the DMCA notices, recognizing that I'm patching holes in a sieve? Do I wait until it is seriously impacting my income, then enact changes that suck? Do I go the route of some bigger companies and go w/ an attorney that will just file RIAA type suits? (Fuck no on that last, I'd rather go broke than be like the RIAA).
I don't know. I really don't. So the only thing I could think of at this point beyond having one of my boys handle the DMCA stuff (to have the files pulled, and defend my copyright), and coming here and honestly telling you my end.
If you like my work, and can afford to do so, please buy it*. I also actually do give away files for free sometimes. :)
You can also follow me on twitter https://twitter.com/TrancewithMe , and I even respond to emails.
Thanks for reading if you did. And thank you even more if it made any difference.
M
*[edit: It was suggested I link to where you can buy! You can buy My titles at NiteFlirt or Clippette currently.]
