Entertainment

Novelist Lucía Etxebarría said on Thursday her announcement that she would put off writing books because of the illegal downloads of her book got out of hand and confirmed she will continue writing.

Talking to the '8 al dia' TV program, the Basque writer pointed out that she decided to stop writing as long as "the necessary legal steps were not taken" to defend the writers' rights. She added she agrees new legal reforms taken by the new Minister of Culture and will continue writing.

Last year, Etxebarría announced via her Facebook account her intention to put off writing any more books “for a few years”. The reason for this long sabbatical was the number of illegal copies of Etxebarría’s books that have been downloaded in recent times, which has exceeded actual sales of her work.

Etxebarría explained via Facebook that she would not be publishing any more “until the situation has been sorted out somehow. I don’t want to spend the next three years working my fingers to the bone for this. When I want to give my novels away I make copies for my friends.”

“Quite simply I cannot start writing another novel because I have to eat and, although my situation is by no means desperate, I cannot live off air alone, or spend the rest of my life like this,” says the award-winning author of ‘Beatriz y los Cuerpos Celestes’, adding “It looks like it’s time I found a job.”

Etxebarría Facebook entry led to a plethora of comments on her Wall, including those in favour of the illegal downloading novels and against the decision taken by the author.