MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

rbruce1314 · 05-25-2017, 03:58 AM

WARNING LONG POST

I hope I'm not too far off-topic here, but it comes directly from the discussion on 'Full Dark House'......

We all seem to be most careful only to advertise/link to official book sites - I've never seen a link to anything 'dodgy'.

I feel I'm among friends and experts here, so I hope one will have the answer - it concerns books/ebooks and copyright, in particular rights/laws applying to "second user". From everything I've read from Wikipedia and its references downwards, all copyright applies to FIRST USER only - once that has been bought legally, that user may dispose of it how he likes. That's been established by test cases and is enshrined in law; otherwise second-hand bookshops, charity bookstalls etc. wouldn't exist. My question refers to the obligations of THAT (second) user.

Situation:
1. I buy a second-hand copy of a book by a living author. Quite legal, it's now mine as a second user.
2. I make an e-copy by manually scanning all pages into my PC, OCRing it and producing (eventually...) a full epub book in my own chosen formatting. Longwinded but I can now put it into my Calibre library and downloaded it to my ereader. So Far so good.
3. What am I now allowed to do with it? The hard copy was mine (to do what I liked with); the epub is mine, so...........
4. Can I give it away (not interested in selling it!!)...
(a) to a friend/friends of mine. It feels legal since the ebook is wholly my work, but is it?
(b) by uploading it to a suitable site (I have no personal site)?

I hope you can see why I'm asking the question in so much detail: I myself have recently bought one or two books (by living authors) from Amazon and ebay (to complete collections where ebooks are not available) then made them into epubs for my use. I know I'm legal so far, but if one of the members here got to know which books I've done and asked me to email them a copy for their own personal use could I do that legally? And if so..........?.?.?

What a can of worms for a Thursday......

Anybody here have a definitive answer or would we all be guessing just as I am?

Back on Topic ........
BTW, for those not in the UK, 'Bryant and May' is the name of the premier long-standing safety-match manufacturer..........!!

05-25-2017, 03:58 AM	#1
rbruce1314 Groupie Posts: 179 Karma: 1021404 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Stroud, UK Device: Xgody tablet, LG G3 (Android), moon+reader	Paper books, ebooks and Copyright (UK) WARNING LONG POST I hope I'm not too far off-topic here, but it comes directly from the discussion on 'Full Dark House'...... We all seem to be most careful only to advertise/link to official book sites - I've never seen a link to anything 'dodgy'. I feel I'm among friends and experts here, so I hope one will have the answer - it concerns books/ebooks and copyright, in particular rights/laws applying to "second user". From everything I've read from Wikipedia and its references downwards, all copyright applies to FIRST USER only - once that has been bought legally, that user may dispose of it how he likes. That's been established by test cases and is enshrined in law; otherwise second-hand bookshops, charity bookstalls etc. wouldn't exist. My question refers to the obligations of THAT (second) user. Situation: 1. I buy a second-hand copy of a book by a living author. Quite legal, it's now mine as a second user. 2. I make an e-copy by manually scanning all pages into my PC, OCRing it and producing (eventually...) a full epub book in my own chosen formatting. Longwinded but I can now put it into my Calibre library and downloaded it to my ereader. So Far so good. 3. What am I now allowed to do with it? The hard copy was mine (to do what I liked with); the epub is mine, so........... 4. Can I give it away (not interested in selling it!!)... (a) to a friend/friends of mine. It feels legal since the ebook is wholly my work, but is it? (b) by uploading it to a suitable site (I have no personal site)? I hope you can see why I'm asking the question in so much detail: I myself have recently bought one or two books (by living authors) from Amazon and ebay (to complete collections where ebooks are not available) then made them into epubs for my use. I know I'm legal so far, but if one of the members here got to know which books I've done and asked me to email them a copy for their own personal use could I do that legally? And if so..........?.?.? What a can of worms for a Thursday...... Anybody here have a definitive answer or would we all be guessing just as I am? Back on Topic ........ BTW, for those not in the UK, 'Bryant and May' is the name of the premier long-standing safety-match manufacturer..........!! Last edited by rbruce1314; 05-25-2017 at 04:00 AM.