Quote:
Originally Posted by PsyDocJoanne
Whether you download "illegally" a book that you just don't feel like paying for, or you download "illegally" to format-shift a book you already own, it's a moot point in the eyes of the law.
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A reasonable assumption, but not one we can rely on until there's a test case in court. Remember, "fair use" isn't a provision of law, it's a defense. I think it would be quite interesting to see a trial where some brave soul (no, I'm not volunteering) sits before the jury and the prosecutor asks, "Did you download these books?" and then the defense wheels in a cart full of paper books and says, "Are these yours? Did you pay for them? Did you own them before the copies of their content appeared on your hard drive?" and then after that, we'll see what the jury says.
If your friends who were given a cease-and-desist had been able to show ownership of legal copies of all music in question, either as commercial CDs or at least CD inserts, I think it would be tough to get a conviction out of a jury for downloading. (Uploading is a different matter. We're still waiting to see how the court will rule if someone has uploaded if there's no evidence that anyone has downloaded-- the crux of the Thomas case.)