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Originally Posted by drmaxx
As a newcomer on the board I probably should keep my mouth shut - but after reading this I can not hold back:
Why do so many people believe that it is o.k. to put the burden of making legal judgments on the downloader. What facts do I have to decide if a specific download does not pay royalties or is not endorsed by the copyright holder?
This would mean that if Mobipocket put up a free ebook in error, the downloader would be responsible for the damage done. Did anybody here check the copyright status of a free book before downloading? Can anybody do that reasonably nowadays with all the changes in copyrights, especially in the US? It is simply not reasonable to put the legal responsibility on the downloader.
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We are not talking about a vendor putting a book up on its site as a freebie that they shouldn't have. We are talking about people going to peer to peer sites and downloading recent books.
With respect, in the United States, if you knowingly take possession of stolen property, in most areas, you have committed a crime. Further, the changes in copyright, though I abhor them, are not that hard to parse out.
As for figuring out if the Author got royalties or not... lets put it this way, if the book is free, and the author or his publisher were not the ones who posted it, it is probably safe to assume that it was done so without the author's permission.
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I do agree that we user have a moral responsibility. I for sure want to be able to read good books and therefore I am interested that authors can live from their work. But I strongly disagree that it is my legal responsibility to make sure that a download fulfills all legal requirements. This is the uploaders responsibility!
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No, it is the responsibility of everyone involved. To me, it sounds like you are arguing that you should be allowed to enjoy the benefits of illegal behavior.
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Downloading should not be illegal! It doesn't make sense. And yes, I do realize that the Internet is worldwide. But heck - then the legislators should get their act together and cooperate over national boundaries. The world is changing - so should legal procedures.
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Of course it makes sense. You are taking possession of a book (or tune or movie) that you have not paid for and have no right to use; why should that be legal.
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Bill