Quote:
Originally Posted by rbruce1314
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.
[...]
BTW, for those not in the UK
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"So Far so good"? Not in the UK. You have broken the law by making an electronic copy of the book.
There is no right in the UK to format-shift copyright works. You may not (legally) convert copyright CDs to play on your computer or phone or music player or tape deck. You may not (legally) scan physical copyright books to make electronic copies.
The government did at one point introduce a new law to give the public the right to format shift. The record companies sued the government, and forced that part of the law to be invalidated.
Techdirt summarises that mess quite well.
You're also entirely wrong about there being any difference in terms of copyright between buying a book new and buying a book second hand. Copyright isn't a contract between buyer and seller.