ethical issue of borrowing library books and downloading same content

[JSWolf]

If you take a book out of the library, download the same book in electronic form, read the eBook and then delete the eBook when you return the book to the library, nobody has lost anything in terms of money. And you have not ended up with an eBook you should not have.

To be honest, I don't see anything morally wrong.

[ManosHandsOfFate]

You've come to an internet forum to ask questions of morality and ethics? Good luck!

But seriously, I've found it to be very informative (and often entertaining) to read the many opinions represented here.

[Flypoppa]

I have only joined this site today. But this topic I have found in many places, and some will not even allow it to be discussed.
My favorite word is 'Free'.
I am sorry but I cannot find any wrong in borrowing an ebook from whatever scorce. As I would go borrow for free a p-book from my local library.
Someone has bought and paid for that book, so the author has had his royalties.
I could go borrow all of Dan Browns p-books from my local library.
No need, as I have found them on line in ebook form. Read them and deleted them. (I need the space for more).

[susan_cassidy]

Originally Posted by Flypoppa

Someone has bought and paid for that book, so the author has had his royalties.

By that logic, if the author only ever sold one copy of his book, because everyone else copied it, it would be ok with you.

I disagree.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by PKFFW

Lets not forget the equally long diatribes about the abuse of copyright by evil corporations and why that makes it all ok.

Cheers,
PKFFW

or the ol' standby, "Information wants to be free!"

[J. Strnad]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

By that logic, if the author only ever sold one copy of his book, because everyone else copied it, it would be ok with you.

I disagree.

Exactly.

The difference with ebooks over regular books is that you aren't just borrowing a physical object, you're making a copy. Only the copyright owner and his license holder (the publisher) have the right to make a copy.

A reader who wants to share my book with a few friends doesn't bother me. It's like passing around a physical book. If this informal sharing gets too efficient, or if someone takes my book and posts it on the internet as a free download for everybody, I have a problem. Where I part ways with the big publishers is the solution to the problem. They see the solution as DRM; I see it as making the ebook readily available at a low price.

I don't see a relationship between a dead tree edition and the ebook, unless the publisher sells them as a package. They're different products and buying one doesn't give you any rights to the other, IMO.

[Flypoppa]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

By that logic, if the author only ever sold one copy of his book, because everyone else copied it, it would be ok with you.

I disagree.

No not at all. In real life that would not happen.
Lets say that my lending library has two copies of a book. Those books have been paid for, and part of my taxes have gone towards the purchase.

In days gone by you could see how many times that book has been borrowed by the number of date stamps on the sheet/sheets. 40, 50, 100? But still the author has only been paid once for each book that has been sold.

I still claim that I am only borrowing that book to read as it was meant to be. Be it a p-book or an ebook. When read it will be returned or deleted.
I do at times buy p-books. But how often have I bought a book and found that I don't like it.
This could be said for some of the software that I have bought. Only to find that it did not do what it said on the label.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Flypoppa

...This could be said for some of the software that I have bought. Only to find that it did not do what it said on the label.

Which is why I only buy shareware or use freeware. When it comes to clothes, shoes, cars and trucks, and software, if I can't try, I don't buy. However, it is legal and ethical to do so with those items. What you are proposing with books is not.

Many authors have made copies of some of their e-books, such as the first book of a series, available for free so you can find out if you would be interested in buying more of their books. Amazon often has excerpts of their p-books available so one can decide if they would be interested (I don't know about the e-books). A good way to see if you would like an author is to buy anthologies of short stories with variety of authors. Buying a used book of a new author is an inexpensive way to try a new author. You can also try out new authors by checking their books out from a library.

[J. Strnad]

But how often have I bought a book and found that I don't like it.

Yeah, that happens. You can even read a good sample and not like how it ends. Sometimes you go to movies you end up not liking, too. Sometimes you have bad dates. Life is full of uncertainty. Sometimes you're pleasantly rewarded for taking the chance and sometimes you aren't.

That's pretty much life as we know it.

[speakingtohe]

But how often have I bought a book and found that I don't like it.

I have bought shoes that pinch, clothes that shrink, food I don't care for, pbooks magazines I don't read etc.
Not too sure it would hold up in court as a reason for shoplifting the next one. Nice if it did of course

Helen

[SensualPoet]

Although you can borrow an ebook from your library, remove the DRM, keep a copy, and read it again later -- let's assume it is only ever for your own personal consumption -- it's hard to see how that is deeply unethical since almost the whole time you "own" a copy, you are not actually using it. And, since you are not redistributing it, it's really just "dead electrons" on your hard drive.

But why bother? Since the ebook is already in your library's collection, just borrow it again the next time you want to read it -- if that time ever arrives. Unlike a physical book, your library won't "lose" it or have it stolen.