Quote:
Originally Posted by lybrary
Here is one thought I am contemplating but I haven't found a good and workable solution for it: It has been stated here that if you buy a book you are free to prepare your own digital version of it. I agree with that interpretation of the copyright law. The next question is what if my friend bought the same book. Can I give him my digital copy of it (remember he has bought the same printed book)? Again my interpretation is yes because my friend has bought the same book and I can certainly share my own work of digitization with him. I couldn't do so with somebody who has not bought the book because that would be in clear violation in copyright law. Does anybody have an opinion on this legal question?
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No. Your friend may have a right to the digital version, but you are not authorized to distribute that material. If you gave your digital copy to your friend you would be committing copyright infringement, even though your friend is allowed to digitize their own version.
Further, while you are not allowed to give your digital copy to your friend, it's probably true that your friend can hire you to digitize his copy of the printed book. Even though the end result is exactly the same, this time it is probably legal.
Nobody claimed that current copyright law makes any sense.
Of course, the other question is would the copyright holder care or even know that you gave your friend a copy? Probably not. But, technically, it would be infringement.