Quote:
Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom
Libraries are funded to provide free books for a limited period of time. I could xerox a library book and read it later. I believe there is a copyright exception for personal use.
|
Exactly.
This is
precisely the legal right that carried the Betamax case: the right to copy a TV show to watch it at a different time from broadcast. That was deemed to be a non-infringing use of a copy-making device, and is the key reason VCRs were declared legal, and the foundation of modern "copy for personal use" rights.
The library can only provide so many "broadcasts" of an ebook at a time. If individuals can time-shift those "broadcasts" to read them later, that's no more copyright infringing than using a VCR to watch all your favorite TV shows on Sunday, rather than 1 hour every night.
It can become an illegal copy if given away... but maybe not. Giving away taped TV shows to a friend or family member has never been prosecuted; it's only when money changes hands that the main distributors start to become concerned. (Non-commercial copyright infringement, on its own, is not a crime in the US, but a tort--the wronged party must file suit to insist they've been wronged; if they don't, no harm is assumed. Like breach of contract, if nobody's complaining, it's assumed that no damage has been done.) (IANAL)
Removing the DRM, and keeping a copy, is no different from taping a TV show and keeping the tape. That the library, like the TV network, only provides the content for a limited time doesn't mean end users are required to only view the content in that time.