Quote:
Originally Posted by wgrimm
1. Am I justified in downloading a "commercial" e-book for free, if I previously owned that e-book in a version for my RocketBook that was broken? Mind you, I paid good money for the original DRMd ebook, and have no recourse with the publisher as they are out of business.
2. If I already own the paper book, is the end result- having an electronic version to read- any different whether I create the version myself or download it from the net?
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I would say 1. Yes and 2. No, no difference.
1. is Yes because the case is different from HarryT's example of the paperback dropped in the bathtub in the following way: there is no additional cost to the publisher. (But then, we're allowed to make backup copies of software and music in the US, and things might be different in the UK, where HarryT lives.) This is the only type of circumstance in which I think I'd feel comfortable knowingly downloading a cracked DRM file -- the effort of formatting the book for electronic use has already been paid for.
I'd say 2. is No, because I really do think if you've paid for the book, it doesn't matter particularly where the backup copy comes from. (Again, the idea of a "backup copy" is usually considered "fair use" in the US, but may not be in the UK.) However,
uploading a digital copy to where anyone can download it crosses the line into illegality. (I'm less certain about the ethics of the upload. There are two conflicting systems of ethics at work, in my mind: the ethics of the US law-abiding citizen, and the ethics of the internet, often described as a "gift economy" where it's considered fair to download only if you also upload and share content.)