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Old 08-25-2010, 03:12 PM   #54
bill_mchale
Wizard
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meromana View Post
Yes, I had the same reaction. Just because somebody wrote a book doesn't entitle the world to read it. Most authors/publishers would like their works to be available to as many readers as possible, but they own the rights to the work, and they don't have to share it, any more than you have to share your vacation property with a homeless person. Maybe your Swiss chalet is sitting there empty and unused while some guy is freezing on the street, but that doesn't entitle him to move in.

--Maria
Actually with respect, your analogy with conventional property is seriously flawed. Once a book has been published, and is in a book store, the entire world is entitled to read it. The rights holder at that point can only control exert control over certain ways under which the work might be obtained by readers. But, for example, once the book is in a public library, anyone with borrowing rights at that Library may read that book and neither the author nor any other rights holder can restrict access to that work.

The basic problem is that the precedents of what constitutes fair use for electronic media is still somewhat fuzzy in situations like this; in large part because copyright law is still built around 18th century notions of what copyright should cover.

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Bill
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