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Originally Posted by JSWolf
Morally, I don't think it's wrong to download an ebook if you have the dead tree edition. Legally, it's probably wrong. If I was to download HP7 as an ebook but I also bought the dead tree version, I would be ok with that.
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How about if there were a commercially available eBook? Would you buy that if you'd previously bought a paperbook version, or would you feel "morally justified" in downloading that without paying for it?
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Now, I know I can go to my library, place a reserve on HP7, when it's my time, read and and not have paid for it. If I was to download the ebook and read that, the author makes the same nothing as if I went to the library to get the book to read. Still having the ebook is illegal even if the author makes the same nothing.
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At the risk of repeating myself, it is a completely false analogy to compare borrowing a book from a library to downloading it from the internet. Firstly, every library from which someone borrows a book has
bought that book, perhaps several copies of it. This HP eBook was created from photographs of a illegally-obtained manuscript which
nobody paid for. It's a totally different situation. Secondly, in the UK at least, authors get paid for library loans on the basis of how many of their books are borrowed by libraries, nationwide, over the course of a year. Not a vast amount, but popular authors get a few thousand $.