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Originally Posted by murraypaul
Clearly any discussion about legality will depend on location.
Where I am (the UK), it is unambiguously not legal to produce an eBook from a pBook, even for personal use, just as it is not legal to produce an mp3 from a CD.
It is also equally clear that most people, including the government, thinks that this is silly, and that there is no chance of you ever being prosecuted for it, nor has it stopped me doing both things.
Copyright law in my jurisdiction is not just about distribution, one of the rights restricted to a copyright holder is the right to copy. (Unsurprisingly, given the name  )
On a very quick look, the same would appear to be true in the US, but not my area. |
The difference in the US vs everybody else is the US has Fair Use Doctrine which is open ended and guided by a Four Factor test of common sense:
https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overvie.../four-factors/
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The four factors judges consider are:
- the purpose and character of your use
- the nature of the copyrighted work
- the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and
- the effect of the use upon the potential market.
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It hasn't been formally tested in court (hence my description of it as "probably") but the first and fourth factors strongly suggest scanning a book you own for your *own* use is fair use since you already paid for the right to read and are less likely to buy an ebook version (if it exists) so the market impact is likely minimal.
Distributing a scan globally, on the other hand, isn't personal enough and is more likely to be replacing a legal purchase and be doing significant harm.
There is a fair body of case law dealing with things that are legal for personal use but not for commercial use/replacement. Scale matters. The legal theory there is "De Minimis":
https://legal-dictionary.thefreedict...com/De+Minimis
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An abbreviated form of the Latin Maxim de minimis non curat lex, "the law cares not for small things." A legal doctrine by which a court refuses to consider trifling matters.
In a lawsuit, a court applies the de minimis doctrine to avoid the resolution of trivial matters that are not worthy of judicial scrutiny. Its application sometimes results in the dismissal of an action, particularly when the only redress sought is for a nominal sum, such as one dollar. Appellate courts also use the de minimis doctrine when appropriate.
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Fair Use is intended to allow reasonable enjoyment of purchased content without forcing creators to compete against their own creation.