Quote:
Originally Posted by tompe
What you said was;
I accept that the copyright laws can make it illegal to obtain something or to distribute something. What i wondered was how they or they in cooperation with other laws makes it illegal to have something. I am still not convinced that it is illegal in the US.
How it works where I live is for example that stealing a physical object is illegal and if you get caught this object will be confiscated. But having the object I do not think is illegal (I cannot remeber ever hearing about such a crime and a name for it but I can be mistaken). The same thing definitely holds when the crime is not theft but making a copy.
So therefore I tought it would be nice to read about how you implement a law system were having a copy of something is illegal.
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I really have no idea. We can argue what's legal and that's a completely different thing from discussing how you're going to enforce the law. My position is if it's illegal, you shouldn't do it. Just because you're not caught doesn't magically make it ok.
As far as if it's legal to have possession of an illegal copy of something, as opposed to how you obtained it, sheesh. What is your point? Are you trying to excuse illegal activity?
If someone steals a chair, they've broken the law. If they sell the stolen chair, I think they've broken another law. If the person buying the chair has no clue it's stolen, I'm not sure if they're breaking the law. Probably so, even though they're ignorant of it. If they give the chair to their friend and the friend keeps it in his home, is it illegal for him to possess that stolen chair? I have no idea. But if it's found to be stolen, it should be returned to it's rightful owner, and certainly the original thief should be held responsible.
At the same time, if the purchaser knows they're buying stolen items, they are encouraging the illegal activity.
I am going to make zero attempt to look up the laws regarding this, because I'm not that interested, and I'm not stealing, nor am I buying questionable furniture.
Where are the books coming from? If you know the publisher isn't selling digital versions, then it's safe to assume (unless you made it yourself and have not distributed it at all) that the copy is illegal.
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I did want to add to my previous post why illegal books are illegal, in my opinion:
1. Distributing may infringe on the market value of the legal copies.
2. Only a portion is considered to be Fair Use, not the entire work.
3. "Entertainment" is nowhere near the scholarly type valid reasons for Fair Use to apply.