Quote:
Originally Posted by PieOPah
I know a lot of people frown upon piracy and for good reason. I however have a question.
In the past I have had a favourite author release a number of books in E-book format. In each instance, I have bought the book and enjoyed it. The, for some reason the latest book released was only available as a physical book (same publisher so that wasn't the reason!).
Since I will no longer buy physical books (I no longer have the room in the house for them and I don't want to buy and get rid!), I borrowed the book from the library. From their, I scanned and OCR'd so I could read it in digital format (this is my current preferred method).
So, while I agree that this was probably illegal, where do I stand morally? I have rented the book from the library so the Author will get any royalties they may get paid (in the event that they do get paid!). I returned the book sooner than I would have done if I was reading it (and I would probably have extended the loan period) meaning somebody else could borrow it sooner than they otherwise would have been able to (meaning more royalty payments).
While I still have a copy of the book on my reader, it is unlikely that I will read it again (it was a good book, but not good enough for me to not read something new instead!)
Bear in mind, I only did this because the electronic version wasn't available. Also, I have never shared any of my E-books with anybody else (including legally bought and released of the DRM shackles).
So, morally, where do I stand?
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You stand in the grey area of copyright infringement. You are no more a 'pirate' than you are a 'buccaneer' or a "longeshoreman". You gained no monetary profit from your actions, you did not share the copyrighted work, and at worst your actions might be described as format shifting. If you feel any guilt (and why would you, it was a library loan after all) then buy a physical copy of the book and donate it to someone, or send a donation to a charity or do something nice for someone.
What was the book, by the way? Because odds are high that if it was a popular author you could have downloaded it from the net and foregone the annoying OCR task.