Shaggy wrote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaggy
Not if I didn't want to sell it.
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in response to my example of 'buying' a book at knifepoint. He's put his finger on exactly the issue I was trying to illuminate --
process matters!
In this case, the end result is "the same" as if I had purchased the book from him. (Yes, I realize my analogy is not perfect, but still...)
Arriving at a 'legitimate' end result by way of an illegal process is still illegal. And that's a piece of the disagreement about things like giving a friend an e-copy of a book that he (and you) own in paper. Either of you could have scanned it for personal use while staying within the bounds of Fair Use (U.S. law here; I am not a lawyer; your mileage may vary). So either of you could legitimately wind up with both a paper and an electronic copy. But it matters how you get there! And the act of giving the other guy a copy takes it out of the bounds of fair use. (At least according to most legal scholars -- it's never been ruled on in court to the best of my knowledge.)
A rather odd-ball but apparently respectable legal position is that it may, in fact, be legit to borrow a CD from a friend, grab the bits
and keep them and then return the CD to your friend. And as long as it's for personal use, you've stayed within the bounds of fair use.
That's according to
some legal scholars; others disagree. It's never been ruled on by a court, so no one knows for sure.
Xenophon