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Step 4Pitch it with facts
Use case studies to argue with facts. It also helps for them to see that other reputable publishers have licensed books Creative Commons. O'Reilly has some a study on an Asterisk book that we used very effectively.
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/06/free_downloads.html
The Asterisk book sold 19k copies over two years (about what comparable books from O'Reilly were selling), but was downloaded 180,000 times from *one* of the 5 sites that mirrored it.
Also consider google as arbiter:
Results from google search breakdown of references to the two books in the oreilly case study (at the time of negotiation, early 2008):
asterisk: 139,000 references in 2 years (2005-2007), or 70,000 per year
understanding the linux kernel, 42,000 references in 7 years (2000-2007), 6,000 per year
So there was 10x the press/blog/reference/hits for the CC licensed book.
And explain the the 75/22/3 breakdown:
David Blackburn, a Harvard PhD candidate in economics, published a paper in 2004 in which he calculated that, for music, piracy results in a net increase in sales for all titles in the 75th percentile and lower; negligible change in sales for the middle class of titles between the 75th percentile and the 97th percentile; and a small drag on the super-rich in the 97th percentile and higher. Publisher Tim O'Reilly describes this as piracy's progressive taxation, apportioning a small wealth-redistribution to the vast majority of works, no net change to the middle, and a small cost on the richest few
and more here: http://tim.oreilly.com/pub/a/p2p/2002/12/11/piracy.html
And make the argument that of those who get the book for free, most of them wouldn't buy the book in the first place. And in that group, there will be a small percentage of converts who will then go out and buy a hard copy of the book for themselves, or as a gift. This percentage of converts more than compensates for any loss in sales due to the free version.
Image below CC World Economic Forum
http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/06/free_downloads.html
The Asterisk book sold 19k copies over two years (about what comparable books from O'Reilly were selling), but was downloaded 180,000 times from *one* of the 5 sites that mirrored it.
Also consider google as arbiter:
Results from google search breakdown of references to the two books in the oreilly case study (at the time of negotiation, early 2008):
asterisk: 139,000 references in 2 years (2005-2007), or 70,000 per year
understanding the linux kernel, 42,000 references in 7 years (2000-2007), 6,000 per year
So there was 10x the press/blog/reference/hits for the CC licensed book.
And explain the the 75/22/3 breakdown:
David Blackburn, a Harvard PhD candidate in economics, published a paper in 2004 in which he calculated that, for music, piracy results in a net increase in sales for all titles in the 75th percentile and lower; negligible change in sales for the middle class of titles between the 75th percentile and the 97th percentile; and a small drag on the super-rich in the 97th percentile and higher. Publisher Tim O'Reilly describes this as piracy's progressive taxation, apportioning a small wealth-redistribution to the vast majority of works, no net change to the middle, and a small cost on the richest few
and more here: http://tim.oreilly.com/pub/a/p2p/2002/12/11/piracy.html
And make the argument that of those who get the book for free, most of them wouldn't buy the book in the first place. And in that group, there will be a small percentage of converts who will then go out and buy a hard copy of the book for themselves, or as a gift. This percentage of converts more than compensates for any loss in sales due to the free version.
Image below CC World Economic Forum
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