Web Site that Offer Free eBook.....How can you

[carpetmojo]

Quite often, it seems that when I do a search for a title, all the dodgy ones are the most interesting sounding ones, the most tailored to my request, & contain a bit of gobbledegook in the" hook" shown !
"If it's sounds too good too be true, ............."

Try using Inkmesh etc.. search engines recommended on MR for where books are, and they're all OK .



Aren't they ?

[Nancy Fulda]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No site which allows pirated books to be freely advertised and downloaded without having a proactive policy in place to sort out such issues can be considered "legitimate". Yes, such things CAN happen at any site which allows uploads; it's what the site DOES about it that determines the "legitimacy" of the site.

This.

[poohbear_nc]

The key issue is contained in Harry's post.

Yes - illegal/pirate web sites have existed for years.
Yes - you can find links to them on many "legitimate" web sites
Yes - most claim to be legitimate, or that they are not legally responsible for content uploaded by other people.

BUT - the key point is hosting copyrighted material without the consent of the copyright holder - and what the site does about it. Any site which publicly proclaims that it is "not responsible for the content uploaded by its members" is not doing its job - and thus shifting the responsibility/blame to you - should you choose to download content from that site.

Truly: caveat emptor
If it seems to good to be true, it is.

[Barbara1955]

The site Shows eBooks that are Not legal BUT When you go to Download they "This File has been removed do to Copyright laws" So to me that means its Legal & Abides by the law. Yet I get others telling me its not! There has to be a better way to tell or check these sites out.

[HarryT]

It's generally pretty obvious what's a legit site and what isn't. I really don't know what more anyone can say than that.

[crich70]

I think one of the problems is that while sites can exist for yrs even with illegal content they can also move house without warning and pop up somewhere else, and there are always new people surfing the net who don't yet know how to spot an illegal site.

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by crich70

I think one of the problems is that while sites can exist for yrs even with illegal content they can also move house without warning and pop up somewhere else, and there are always new people surfing the net who don't yet know how to spot an illegal site.

Thanks!

I thought this was going to be a simple question & a simple answer....guess not!

[Hellmark]

Part of the problem is a website can have their server in a country with really lax laws. For instance, if they're running in Laos, they are subject to Laos copyright law (which is to say, none). Now, you can come along, living in the US, go and download from that site, but you are subject to US copyright law. The content owners cannot legally shut down the site, despite the content on the site being illegal in most of the world.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Part of the problem is a website can have their server in a country with really lax laws. For instance, if they're running in Laos, they are subject to Laos copyright law (which is to say, none). Now, you can come along, living in the US, go and download from that site, but you are subject to US copyright law. The content owners cannot legally shut down the site, despite the content on the site being illegal in most of the world.

Or a book can be out of copyright in one country and not out of copyright in another. MR I think has some that are in that grey area. Or so I understand.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by crich70

Or a book can be out of copyright in one country and not out of copyright in another. MR I think has some that are in that grey area. Or so I understand.

Many. Which is why our download library asks you to check before downloading.

[Critteranne]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

2. Any site giving away copyrighted books free is 99.99999999% sure of being a pirate site.
3. Sites offering books in ebook format that "aren't available anywhere else" are probably illegal.

Unless it's a site like the Fifth Imperium, which provides access to all the Baen Books CDs. The site was created by a fan, and not by Baen, but the publisher has no problem with the site because the owner follows their rules. Some people do visit the site without knowing it's OK and automatically think it's an illegal ebook site. (IIRC the link kept getting removed from Wikipedia because the mods decided they could not determine if it was legit. I don't know if that's still the case.)

Just to muddy the waters. And to muddy the waters more, if a site sells the contents of the Baen CDs, or the Free Library books, then it is not a legitimate site and should be reported to Baen. Unless it's Webscription, which is Baen's own ebook site.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm really not sure where the confusion lies. No site which allows pirated books to be freely advertised and downloaded without having a proactive policy in place to sort out such issues can be considered "legitimate". Yes, such things CAN happen at any site which allows uploads; it's what the site DOES about it that determines the "legitimacy" of the site.

With one famous exception, they all remove content with a valid DMCA claim. It wouldn't really be feasible to do it proactively, even if you could find an expert in copyright to do it for you. User generated content will always create problems like this. Removing problem files when notified about them by the copyright holder is really the only practical way around it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

With one famous exception, they all remove content with a valid DMCA claim. It wouldn't really be feasible to do it proactively, even if you could find an expert in copyright to do it for you. User generated content will always create problems like this. Removing problem files when notified about them by the copyright holder is really the only practical way around it.

To clarify, I meant that the policy needs to be proactive, not the deletions . Like we have a policy here of encouraging all our members to report dodgy files to us. It's generally pretty clear what is or is not a legal upload.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

To clarify, I meant that the policy needs to be proactive, not the deletions . Like we have a policy here of encouraging all our members to report dodgy files to us. It's generally pretty clear what is or is not a legal upload.

But like you said earlier, something might be legal in one country and not another. You also get writers giving away ebooks with a phrase like "this can be freely distributed" and then later changing their mind (or having their mind changed by a publisher). The only people who are really in a position to say for definite are the current copyright holders.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

But like you said earlier, something might be legal in one country and not another. You also get writers giving away ebooks with a phrase like "this can be freely distributed" and then later changing their mind (or having their mind changed by a publisher). The only people who are really in a position to say for definite are the current copyright holders.

That's true. You can be pretty sure, though, that if you go to a site and see something like, say, the Harry Potter books available for download, it's not legit.