What kind of a person would post illegal copies of religious books online to "help" their religious community?

I was just forwarded info about a website (won't post the info here,as that would probably violate the rules) with at least 1 dozen copyrighted and widely available books on Pagan religions.





Who would do that? Do they think authors are making mad money or something?

What kind of a person would post illegal copies of religious books online to "help" their religious community?
A person with a very interesting interpretation of copy write law. I'm still flabbergasted when I search for some bit of information and find pages and pages of some book I own (and is still in print) online at google books - I'm really not understanding how that is working. My husband, who for some reason finds copy write laws and intellectual property interesting (it's actually a hobby of his but it's related to his work too) tried to explain it to me, but I still couldn't truly grasp it.





I think the answer you're looking for is "a criminal".


And "mad money" is very subjective.





Edit - I'm appalled by some of these answers. Why should someone not deserve or desire to make money for their work? This mindset makes no sense.
Reply:Probably people who think that religion is not suppose to be a money making business. Does it matter if someone is making money of religion or not?





If I was going to write something religious why would I ask for money? I would rather give it away, or even pay for it to be shipped if I truly felt it was the benefit of humanity to understand such texts.





Many pagans don't hold money in high reguard. Not all, but many.
Reply:We are all depraved creatures lab girl.





I agree with your concept of giving credit to the creator, book or other.
Reply:Some people, unfortunately, don't care. As long as they're getting something for free they don't care if someone else is getting hurt.





As proved above, some people think authors actually like their stuff being pirated, writing it off as "good publicity."





And a lot of people don't know better. Some know that old books can be reproduced for free but don't know how old it actually has to be. I think it doesn't even occur to some people, generally the younger crowd. They come across something cool and their first thought is "This is neat. Everyone should see this!" Especially if they found it on the Internet themselves. If it's on the Internet, it must be ok to keep it on the Internet, right?
Reply:A common thief, about half of which are Christian.
Reply:I think they probably trust that the authors will prosper. No idea is knew I never ask people for money to read what I write but I am always well taken care of, so I think you have to ask the people who are doing this to get the real answer.
Reply:Westboro Baptist or anyone like them...
Reply:Christians
Reply:Umm, I would say the author would probably be pissed. I do know some that don't mind so much if their work is shared but they do prefer to get paid for their work. I know others that would be really pissed to find out.





You know what's so bad is that some authors don't make much because they aren't marketing themselves or maybe I should say whoring themselves to the masses. Personally I'd tell the person that sent it to me that they were in violation of copyright laws. Maybe explain that these authors aren't rich.
Reply:I would think the authors themselves would want their work so widely available. Isn't that the point of publishing such a book?
Reply:who does this?





links to other websites are used as source references
Reply:just goes to show that pagans have no morals- so take that