Quote:
Originally Posted by riemann42
So if all of the above are true, and you have agreed to it, then it seems like acquiring something you don't have rights to... namely an electronic copy of a book you own a physical copy of... is no more ethical than stealing a hard back book because "you bought the electronic version."
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Ah but in some countries, like here in Australia you are permitted by copyright legislation to, for personal use, digitise a book for viewing on an electronic device, provided you own both the device and original book.
So, the question is, ethically do you feel it ok to download a copy of an ebook of which you already own a paperback copy? Does this count as digitising your book to electronic format (given the legislations don't specify how to digitise)? I raised the question some time ago and people felt that it is wrong and violates copyright law. Then I posed the question "Legally a person is able to record a free-to-air TV program for timeshifting purposes (ie: view at a later time) provided once they watch it they delete/destroy the copy and do not share or distribute. One day you forget to record a TV show however your neighbour did. Do you borrow the recorded copy to watch?"
If you borrow the copy you are illegally acquiring a copyrighted material, secondly your neighbour is distributing without authorisation copyright material. Given that the copy will be viewed at least twice (once by your neighbour and once by you) that is in breach of personal use, you can timeshift to view at a later time, NOT view any number of times you like. Most people would borrow the copy without even thinking twice, but with downloading a copy of an ebook of which you already own the paperback to (and despite fair use specifying you can digitise a paperback for personal use), people feel it unethical and wrong. I actually find it quite interesting the differences in what is deemed socially allowable and what isn't despite deep down there is in fact little difference.