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Would it be fair to download it!!!
Basically, I want to read a book i came across on the internet (www.scribd.com). It's an interesting book about Occult sciences and spirituality. I found that the author of the book died 23 years ago and the publisher has stopped printing new copies of the book and the publisher lives in a city far-off from my home. But i also found that some old copies are available in my city too. But the problem is that i do not want to read a hard copy as i will feel extremely awkward and embarassed if people around me found out that i read such books (occult sciences) as it is considered to be superstition, taboo or a scary science. The ebook can be downloaded for free from the internet but i don't know if it will be ethical to download it as i do not know whether the book is in public domain or not. I don't mind paying for the ebook but a paid downloadable copy is not available. So my dilemma is whether i should download the book and read it without checking its copyright status ?
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Want to answer more questions in the Miscellaneous category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Etiquette?
You are going to get two different answers here, the strict law-based one, and the slightly more liberal common practice of fair use when it comes to out of print books.
The book is almost definitely not public domain if it was published in the recent past and discontinued. In this situation, ethically you must assume that it is covered by copyright - ignorance isn’t an excuse when it’s so obviously much more likely to be copyrighted than not.
The strict answer is that as far as the United States copyright laws are concerned, downloading the digital version from scribed would be illegal.
The more flexible answer is that in some cases, making a copy of an entire book can fall under ‘Fair Use.’ Making a copy of an out-of-print book could be considered fair use if it is for non-commercial, personal use that does not harm market for the book because the book is no longer available from any other source.
In the states if you own a physical copy of the book, you are entitled to making a scanned copy for your own use - that falls under ‘Fair Use’.
HOWEVER, the law is very clear that you aren’t allowed to use a scanned copy that was made by SOMEBODY ELSe. (ie, the download you found on scribd). Making a ‘fair use’ copy is a personal thing. That copy cannot be given away to someone else, even if they own a copy of the book themselves.
Other countries have different laws and a lot of Americans will argue that it is just fine if you own a copy of the book - even a second hand copy - for you to download the digital version from someone else.
I’m not going to say if that is ethically right or wrong, but it is against US copyright law.
It’s against the sites rules here for us to advise someone to something illegal, but in your situation, I would choose to buy a physical copy of the book, tuck it away someplace in my room, and than read downloaded copy to my heart’s content. I'd feel that was perfectly fair and respectful of the author's copyright - although yes - it would technically not be a copy that I had made myself.
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Is the website legitimate? You should see under the "contact us" or "about us" information.
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