Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
That'd be because most copyright infringement is not a crime, and cops have no ability to make arrests for it. Copyright infringement, like breach of contract, is a matter for civil court.
There are some cases where it's criminal--where there are bootleg copies of books or movies or albums being sold. But most copyright infringement isn't about copies-for-sale, and therefore isn't of interest to cops.
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But they ought to be interested.
Bootleg copies of a movie, say, are duplicated from an authorized or unauthorized copy. Just like with e-books, they have not stolen the original. But the police still consider the matter illegal, they can and do arrest those in possession of bootleg products, and the copyright owners can still prosecute even if you haven't "stolen" an authorized copy from them, because selling the bootleg copies violates copyright law.
So, maybe instead of theft (see? I'm conceding a point!
), we should call the unauthorized copying and distributing of e-books "bootlegging."