Re: The Seven Types Of Pirate

On Thu, October 14, 2010 2:50 pm, Richard Fuller wrote:

[snip]

> Lets say that I
> have all ten books in a given series. I discover that all ten of those
> books are in ebook format. It doesn't matter which format. Obviously I
> wouldn't download a format my equipment didn't support. I discover that
> it's much more convenient to keep the ebook copies than it is the
> hardbooks. Let's say then that I give my hardbook copies away, keeping
> only the ebooks. Suddenly, my backup or archival copies aren't backups or
> archives....they are my sole copy. Now, if I understand correctly, I'm not
> a pirate. The author and publisher have both been paid.

Let's see, have you robbed or committed illegal violence at sea or on the
shores of the sea? Raped, murdered, pillaged or plundered, returning to a
ship? If not, then you're not a pirate.

Have you infringed a copyright? Probably, but it's a close question.

The first thing you need to know is that copyright infringement is not
like theft, so the fact that the author and/or publisher have been paid is
irrelevant to the offense.

In the United States (I am not qualified to speak for other
jurisdictions), the copyright act gives an author the exclusive right to
make copies of original works of authorship. A author can delegate those
rights to anyone she or he desires, upon any condition s/he wants. This
artificial monopoly on making copies is, at first blush, absolute and
unconditional.

However, the statute then goes on to state that making copies for a
purpose that falls under the traditional definition of "fair use" is /not/
infringement. The right hand giveth, and the left hand taketh away.

Your original posting is undoubtedly copyrighted. I made a copy of it.
Have I infringed your copyright? No, because making copies of short
passages for academic purposes (I'm trying to teach, right?) falls clearly
into the category of fair use.

What is fair use? Well, that's a more difficult question. Short passages
like illustrated above clearly are fair use. Copying video content
transmitted over the airways and converting them to some other electronic
format for purposes of "time-shifting" has been decided to be fair use.
Copying software for backup purposes is probably fair use (it some
jurisdictions backup has been explicitly excluded from copyright
infringement).

I'm not convinced that making a copy of a book you own, either via
photocopy or scanning, is fair use. I'm not aware of any court decision
which has considered this question. This is not surprising, when you
consider that most small-scale copyright infringement is not criminal in
nature, but is civil. Thus, if you photocopied a novel, for example, the
author could sue you for the infringement, but would be required to prove
that s/he has been damaged by the infringement. Because there is no
damage, you will certainly not be sued, but this does not mean you haven't
infringed. You have committed a sin as egregious as driving 5 mph over the
speed limit.

Now in your hypothetical, you have also obtained your copy from someone
who is almost certainly infringing. By downloading from a known illegal
source, have you conspired to commit copyright infringement? Maybe. Is
your backup copy tainted as being "fruit of the poisonous tree?" I'd be
willing to make that argument.

But it is important to realize that the fair use exception is elastic and
uncertain. We can readily identify the extremes on either side, but the
edge cases are tricky, and can go either way. My quoting you above is
clearly fair use, but if someone were to make a copy of this entire
mailing list and publish it as a single work it may be copyright
infringement. I once read a court case where the court said (I'm
paraphrasing, of course, but this is no joke), "It's easy to know whether
an act of copying is fair use. Just file a lawsuit, and the court will
tell you if it is or isn't."

My advice? Be pragmatic. Do whatever you feel comfortable with, but fly
below the radar.



------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Post a message:   ebook-community [[at]] *
Unsubscribe:      ebook-community-unsubscribe [[at]] *
Switch to digest: ebook-community-digest [[at]] *
Switch to normal: ebook-community-normal [[at]] *
Put mail on hold: ebook-community-nomail [[at]] *
Administrator:    ebook-community-owner [[at]] *

(* == yahoogroups.com)
-------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebook-community/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebook-community/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    [email protected] 
    ebook-community-fullfeatured-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    ebook-community-unsubscribe-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/