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I think that may vary per country, HarryT. In the US there was recently a decision that books may be transformed to formats accessible to handicapped readers if the reader owns a copy, without explicit permission from the copyright holder. Some organizations are using this to share scanned/ocr'd copies of books between readers who are able to demonstrate a visual impairment.
In the case of the Harry Potter books, there are audio versions available, of course, but they are much more expensive than the print version.
Also, though I know scanning a whole book is illegal in the U.K. based on what you've posted here, I think it's less clear if that is the case in other countries.
What is clear from reading up on copyright law in different countries is that the meaning of terms like "copyright," "fair use," and "author's rights" differ from country to country, sometimes very widely. I don't think any of us can assume we know what's legal or considered ethical in another country or culture, unless we've studied it specifically.
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