Quote:
Originally Posted by batpuppy
Yeah the same question comes up when you have an DRM ebook in another format that you want to read on the reader.
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Well... from an ethics point of view, that might not be exactly the same question.
In one circumstance, there might be a book for which a legal ebook version
does not exist. It's an interesting ethical question of who is harmed by downloading an unauthorized ebook version of such a book, especially when one has already supported the author (and publisher!) by buying a copy. As Harry points out, it's probably not legal (I think it's not cut-and-dried if you own a physical copy, at least in the US, but it might be more clear in some countries). In particular, when the book is out of print, it's hard to see who is being harmed by this activity.
Let's say that in another circumstance, the ebook version
does exist. Then, even if one has already bought the paper version, one might want to encourage publishers in their conversion of their existing catalogs to ebook versions by paying for an authorized ebook edition. After all, making nicely formatted ebooks does take work. However, if one has already done this by buying a DRM version which one now wishes to read on another format or device, I think that is a different ethical issue than trying to support the general conversion of books to digital format. (One might also want to support publisher's claims by buying multiple DRM'd copies in different formats as needed, but that is a different motive than simply wanting to support digital conversions.)
Another situation is this: suppose one has a physical copy of a book, but bought it used. Do the ethics of downloading an unauthorized digital copy change in this case? The purchase of a used book has not helped the author or publisher directly. But the new owner is holding a token copy of the work, and the person who did originally buy the book no longer has it, so the original purchaser did pay the publisher, author, et. al. for this copy (unless it's a stripped copy).
Finally, suppose one has bought a book (lets say, for talking purposes, bought it new). The purchaser downloads a digital copy, then gives the original book to a local library. What happens with the ethics of the situation then?
I don't know the answers, but I think this is a more complicated area than the simple answer of "it's illegal" generally provides.