Disclaimer: I don’t want any advice on how to do anything illegal. Please don’t post anything of that nature.
All right, here’s the scenario. I bought a book this morning, and a major part of the book is contained in a pdf file on an enclosed CD. After opening the package containing the CD (and therefore making it highly unlikely that I can return the book), I discovered that the pdf is protected, so I can’t print from it. Assuming that there’s a way to get around that (again, don’t post anything about that), would I be breaking the law if I printed only that section of the book for my personal use? It’s about 100 pages out of 2600 included in the pdf, if that makes any difference.
My best understanding of the fair use law is that you normally can print out sections for personal use.
Now for the disclaimers. IANAL. I don’t think the law was written to cope with sitations like this. I don’t believe there is any case law to support a guess either way. There may be a license that came with the CD that says explicitly what you can or can’t do in this particular case.
But I wanted to beat RealityChuck to an answer on a book question for a change, so I’m posting this WAG anyhow.
No, it makes no mention of it. Perhaps they’re hoping that the restrictions on the pdf will constitute an implicit license, but I’d be surprised if that carries much legal weight.
I can’t see anyway that it would be illegal for you to print the material for your own use. It’s not any different than using a copy machine to copy the 100 pages out of the book for your own personal use.
As long as their is no expicit license which was agreed to, there is no way that they can restrict your right to fair use.
Sounds to me like it’d be a felony. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (?) criminalizes any effort to crack copy protection. So while I think the printing of the 100 pages itself could be fair use (could go either way, IMO), any effort you take to get around the electronic protection on the file is criminal. Of course, you didn’t ask and I’m not answering a related question, namely, what’s the likelihood that any law enforcement official is going to do anything about it.
If it’s a big deal, take it back to the bookstore. Since most PDF files you run across can be printed from, it seems to me that if the publisher is protecting the file then they have a duty to announce that to prospective purchasers.
–Cliffy, Esq.
P.S. I know very little about this area of law, I may not be licensed in your jurisdiction, and I do hot have sufficient knowledge of the facts to offer competent legal advice in this matter. You are not my client. I am not your lawyer.
In the case of a PDF file, things are fuzzy, especially where fair use is concerned.
Legally, determining whether this is fair use depends on a lot of factors, including the amount of the document that you copy. The percentage you use might be considered fair use, but a judge would have to determine that.
On a practical basis, it’s no likely anyone’s going to take you to court in this instance. In fact, if you hadn’t posted here, no one would have known.
The DMCA, though, does make cracking into the copy protection illegal. However, I don’t know how printing from a copy would be viewed. It’s a legal gray area.
So it might be illegal, but it’s small potatoes. That’s kinda what I figured.
Just for the record, I’m probably not actually going to do this. The part of the book only in the pdf appears to be a condensed overview of the later parts of the book, aimed at beginners. It’s not worth it to me, as I’ve got other references.
I have yet to see a cite that contradicts what I quoted, and the language looks pretty clear cut to me. I’m not sure why the media (PDF) would make any difference. You can copy 100% of a copyrighted work (e.g., a CD) for personal use and that is covered under fair use so I don’t see why the number of pages you would print would make any difference.
Just to be clear though, I quoted from a U.S. Copyright Office Summary and not the actual legislation itself. It would be a pretty worthless summary if it were that misleading however.
" It’s not any different than using a copy machine to copy the 100 pages out of the book for your own personal use. "
Depends on the store, on whether you can copy a book page or not, our Kinkos won’t let you copy ONE page or even a magazine page or a dollar bill face.