A party may seek to protect his or her copyrights against unauthorized use by filing a civil lawsuit in federal district court. If you believe that your copyright has been infringed, consult an attorney.
In cases of willful infringement for profit, the U.S. Attorney may initiate a criminal investigation.
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html
What is copyright infringement?
As a general matter, copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner.
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-definitions.html
Question: Why are copyright holders concerned about piracy?
Answer: Free speech is protected by the U.S. Constitution but so are property rights. Copyright law provides incentives for creating. One of the incentives for creating software, music,
literature and other works is being able to reap the financial benefits as the creator. Illegitimate distribution of copies may prevent the copyright holder from benefiting from the sale of legitimate copies of the product. The theory is that significantly fewer people would buy copies from the copyright holder if other copies were available cheaper or for free.
http://www.chillingeffects.org/piracy/faq.cgi#QID143
steal /stil/ Show Spelled [steel] Show IPA ,verb, stole, sto·len, steal·ing, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to take (the property of another or others) without permission or right, esp. secretly or by force
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/steal
I know bloody well what the words mean. Obviously you do not.
The dictionary definition of steal is to take something that isn't yours. Copyright infringement is taking the product of someone without permission. If you don't have permission to take it, it isn't yours. If you take something that isn't yours, you are stealing. Maybe the concept is too simple for you to grasp? Or are you just trying to rationalize your own thefts?
This isn't about DRM and defeating it so you can freely use what you own. This about taking something you don't already own. Backing up or replacing (including media shift) a paper book with a digital copy is legal. Getting a copy from someone who legally owns a copy and is making the copy for you to replace a damaged or destroyed copy you legally owned is probably legal (it's a gray area legally but since the copy you are replacing was legal I seriously doubt it would be a problem; I replaced a CD a friend had damaged in a car break in based on that since I knew she had owned a legal copy--I had given it to her). Getting that backup or replacement copy from a pirate is very questionable since the pirate doesn't have the right to reproduce and distribute that product, assuming the pirate even owns a copy of the book.
Btw, the passages I copied from various websites were done legally under fair use which permits me to make a copy of part of a work for educational purposes.