Quote:
Originally Posted by greveg
I've been searching the forums for a thread much like this one lately, and haven't had any luck. I know that this is predominantly an ebook forum, but recently I've been getting into bookbinding as a hobby and was checking into the legality of converting and printing my non-DRM books into signature format. Any thoughts??
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It depends - it's not a matter of if the ebook is DRMed or not, it's a matter of if the book is still under copyright (that's what copyright means - the right to make copies).
Some ebooks actually come with print permissions - usually only a few pages, but some will let you print the entire thing.
The 1978 copyright law (I'm presuming you're in the US) defines fair use - although some of the wording is rather vague. Look
here and click the link for more info.
Since you're asking about the legality and not the morality, a pointer to the actual law should be all the information you need.
Keep in mind that copyright infringement is not a crime (although there are people on this board who act as though it is) - it's a civil violation. That doesn't mean it's 'OK', but it does mean that the police won't come knocking at your door unless you're also distributing it. It's up to the copyright holder to defend his copyright in the civil courts, not the criminal courts.
So if you're only making one copy, for your own personal use, you're unlikely to get into trouble about it, even if you are violating the law.
But if you want to stay entirely inside the law, then you should only print out public domain works. Those are yours, to do with as you please.
Of course, you could always buy a paper copy and rebind it. That's entirely permissible.