Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Perhaps it is just a cultural difference. For all I know, people in the US routinely photocopy their paper books and read the photocopies, because their "fair use" law says they can. Here, we just accept that books wear and, and go and buy a new one if we want an additional copy, or we want the book in a different format.
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Harry, I agree with you in concept but it may be only partially a cultural difference. I think the big difference here is a combination of technology & economy. It's basically cheaper to buy a new paperback than to photocopy it. With electronic media, that is not the case since it is much cheaper and easier to copy. Also if I steal a paper copy, I have done several things, only some of which apply to stealing an electronic copy. I.e. 1) there is the "intellectual property" that applies to both, but 2) with the paper copy I have taken something tangible and you no longer have it, while with the ebook, we would both have our own copy - one legal and one stolen. Therefore since you, the legal owner of the book, have lost nothing, some people will not see that as stealing. They don't consider the originator of the story in their thoughts.
Please note that I am
NOT saying that it is either legal or ethical to copy the ebook. Just that sometimes it's difficult to determine exactly where the ethical line is on intellectual property. Since we're only talking about books here, I won't open up that whole can of worms except to point out that if I tell a story and you record it and then publish it, you would probably own the copyright even though it originated as my intellectual property.