Quote:
Originally Posted by Moejoe
Is that true? You can't buy or sell books with their covers off in the US? Is it limited to just book retailers, or second-hand bookshops too? Crikey, I've bought loads of books from second-hand stores with no covers, just the pages and the glue binding them together.
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Yes and no. You (the consumer) probably haven't violated any law by purchasing the book in that condition. Similarly, the bookseller probably didn't violate a law either (assuming they didn't conspire with their source to get the books in the first place). In saying this I am glossing over questions of "receiving stolen goods" and the like, as they're too hard for me to understand when the situation is transitive.
That said,
somewhere along the chain between the retailer or wholesaler who removed the cover and returned it to the publisher for credit and you the consumer, there certainly is a person or organization who has at least committed fraud. By returning the cover for credit, they are certifying that the book was destroyed. But clearly, it was not (or you couldn't be buying it)! So someone lied for money -- textbook definition of fraud!
It's up to you to decide whether or not you wish to benefit from someone else's crime. I sincerely doubt that any prosecutor would enter a case against you for traffic in stolen merchandise (or whatever the proper term is) over a book or two. A truck-load (or a bookstore full) might be a different story.
My choice is to never ever purchase such books, mostly because I know that the author/copyright owner didn't get their royalty on them.
Xenophon