[djgreedo]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

If I make an ebook out of a printed book, and email it to six of my friends, who no longer has a book because of it? Whose book have I stolen? If it's out of print, whose money have I stolen?

You've copied someone's intellectual property without their permission (assuming you're talking about a bookin copyright).

You may not have directly deprived them of a physical object or money, but you may have prevented a potential sale. You may have devalued their work. You may have transmitted their intellectual property against their wishes.

It comes down to whether you believe intellectual property is property. I think most people respect that creative output is of value, both emotionally and commercially. Most people believe that creators have the right to earn a living from their creative work, and that a part of that right is to control who can and cannot distribute that work.

EDIT:
It doesn't matter if the book is out of print - the author may be trying to get the book back in print, etc. The author may not want the book to be distributed further. It should be the author's choice, shouldn't it?

Perhaps more importantly--why do you insist it is stealing, when the law does not? Do you think that your personal morals should override the courts?

Not calling it stealing is simply splitting hairs or moving the goalposts. Whatever you call copyright infringment it amounts to the same thing - depriving a creator of control over his creation.

I am sometimes persuaded to change my actions because they have, or could, hurt people. I am never persuaded to change them because someone is offended by them.

Do you consider diminishing someone's ability to earn a living from their creative endeavors to be hurting them? How about diminishing a creator's control over their own creative work?

(This mini-rant is entirely related to calling copyright infringement "stealing," and has nothing to do with my thoughts on filesharing of ebooks. I'm strongly in favor of reasonably-priced, DRM-free ebooks, and I spend dollars in that direction and encourage my friends to do the same.)

I don't see the term 'stealing' as problematic. It seems a waste of time to split hairs over it. It may not be a 100% accurate depiction of the nuances of digital copyright infringement, but that is analgous to stealing if not stealing in a traditional sense. It has largely the same effect on the owner of the IP (or perhaps different but equal effects).