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Originally Posted by Shaggy
Does copyright say you can't? US copyright law already says that incidental copies that are created during normal use don't matter. If loaning IP is legal, then incidental copies while loaning an eBook should fall under "normal use", right?
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I think we have to consider two separate issues here:
1. As you say, incidental copies created during normal use are clearly permitted by copyright law since, practically speaking, you can't really do anything with a digital file that doesn't involve copies being made - not even reading it.
2. The issue of what, if anything, you are obliged to do with your own copy when you give the book to someone else. Is merely refraining from reading your own copy sufficient? I'd guess it probably isn't - copyright is about "possession, not "usage". Is making a reasonable endeavor to delete copies from your reading device and PC sufficient? I would hope that it is, but until this is tested in court, we really don't know the answer, do we?