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Here is a definition of a pyramid scheme: pyramid schemes — also referred to as franchise fraud or chain referral schemes — are marketing and investment frauds
by cduan 16y ago
Here is a definition of a pyramid scheme:
pyramid schemes — also referred to as franchise fraud or chain referral schemes — are marketing and investment frauds in which an individual is offered a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product. The real profit is earned, not by the sale of the product, but by the sale of new distributorships. Emphasis on selling franchises rather than the product eventually leads to a point where the supply of potential investors is exhausted and the pyramid collapses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchise_fraud http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchise_fraud
Seems like, under that definition, the question is whether people are paying you for the book, as opposed to paying you for the right to engage in the pyramid scheme.
Remember, copyright law gives you a right to exclude, but it does not absolve you of other legal obligations. For example, you can commit antitrust-like violations using a copyright (this is called "copyright misuse"). So if your scheme is indeed a pyramid scheme that violates the law, then copyright will not protect you.
That said, I'm just hypothesizing on facts I'm imagining, so obviously consult a lawyer with any real situations.
- EGreg 16y agoIt says there: "pyramid schemes — also referred to as franchise fraud or chain referral schemes — are marketing and investment frauds in which an individual is offered a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product. The real profit is earned, not by the sale of the product, but by the sale of new distributorships. Emphasis on selling franchises rather than the product eventually leads to a point where the supply of potential investors is exhausted and the pyramid collapses." in this case there is a real product, even though each extra copy costs $0 secondly, we can't really prove one way or the other -- after all the ebook might be useful for some people, who is to say the "real" profit is earned by selling the option to be an affiliate and not the product, since you get both at the same time and thirdly, ANY copyrighted work needs to be bought only once if the user keeps the copy in good condition, so the supply of potential buyers will be exhausted and sales of the book will diminish as the market is saturated
- cduan 16y agoAh, this is helpful, as I think it highlights the point of disagreement. If you are of the view that an MLM scheme is legal if there is a "real product" that "might be useful for some people," even if that product is a zero-cost ebook, then I think that this is oversimplistic and you would have to consult a lawyer on it. As I mentioned above, the mere fact that you have a copyright backing a pyramid scheme would not necessarily absolve that scheme of responsibility. My guess is that other factors, such as how you advertise the scheme, would be relevant.
- EGreg 16y agoPerhaps it is oversimplistic, but it seems to me that the copyright law makes a category error - it equates a license to make a copy with an actual "product" with resale value - even though there is an unlimited supply of it, and in doing so, makes the MLM scheme totally legal.