Quote:
Originally Posted by sjfan
It is certainly not theft in most states (which in most states requires intent to deprive the owner of possession, as well as appropriating the item yourself). But even in the 1980s home videos made it abundantly clear with their FBI Warnings that "Federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for unauthorized reproduction".
Copyright infringement in the US is a (criminal) misdemeanor for minor infractions or a felony for larger infractions, in addition to being a civil tort. It's probably unlikely someone will be prosecuted for minor infractions, but it's possible.
https://www.justice.gov/usam/crimina...nd-18-usc-2319
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimin..._United_States |
Yes...the operative phrase being "and for purposes of
commercial advantage or private financial gain" Someone who uploads an ebook to a torrent does not fit this description. A person running a website trying to sell pirated book will definitely be breaking this law, and someone running a free download site that is supported by ads may be as well. Someone who buys a book from Amazon and uploads it definitely is not, no matter how many books they upload, as long as they aren't getting any "commercial advantage or private financial gain".
Shari