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Old 12-06-2007, 05:46 PM   #15
bingle
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bingle has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.bingle has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.bingle has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.bingle has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.bingle has a complete set of Star Wars action figures.
 
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: San Francisco
Device: Sony Reader
Quote:
Originally Posted by vivaldirules View Post
I assume this is the case in the U.S. as well. I've tended not to worry since no one but me will ever see the digital copies that I create from my own pbooks. I can't see how anyone is harmed by it.
In the US, courts have not ruled definitively on whether converting your own CDs or books into digital formats ("format shifting") is legal or not. It is absolutely illegal for DVD movies (not necessarily for VHS movies), because of the DMCA.

There is a large amount of business devoted to helping consumers digitize CDs, photographs, and VHS movies - it's all operating under a bit of a gray area.

Basically, anything that applies to a CD->iPod conversion will apply to a book->Reader conversion, but the same is not true of movies, software, or anything else that has a technological means of copy-protection that must be bypassed.

Interestingly enough, it's definitely illegal to copy an ebook (a DRMed ebook), but not necessarily illegal to copy the same book in print format. Even if the title is in the public domain!
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