# Is Scribd a legitimate website? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 9, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scribd-a-legitimate-website/712237 "2015-02-09T17:19:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scribd-a-legitimate-website/712237/1 "2015-02-09T17:19:07Z")
While searching online I came across this website: > **[Scribd: Ebooks, Audiobooks & More - Read Free for 30 Days](https://www.scribd.com/)** > > Enjoy millions of ebooks, audiobooks and more with a free trial. Choose from best sellers and new releases. Read on the web, iPad, iPhone and Android. It _looks_ legitimate but I’m a bit concerned before handing over my credit card details, and I’m not sure re the legitimacy of some of the books they’re offering for download. Does anybody here use it and what do you think? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scribd-a-legitimate-website/712237/2 "2015-02-09T18:01:14Z")
[Here’s one review I’ve read of it](http://bookwi.se/scribd-a-review/) (with an [update here](http://bookwi.se/areas-improvement-scribd/)). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scribd-a-legitimate-website/712237/3 "2015-02-09T18:06:10Z")
It has some very dodgy origins and there is plenty of copyrighted material put up there without permission. It seems to be getting away from that, but I wouldn’t trust they actually have the rights to sell the material they have up there. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scribd-a-legitimate-website/712237/4 "2015-02-09T19:21:25Z")
Thanks for the answers, definitely need to give it some thought. ---
**Author:** ![andrea\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecccb3/32.png) [@andrea\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrea_green)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scribd-a-legitimate-website/712237/5 "2015-02-11T02:14:59Z")
Scribd has $47.8 million in venture-capital financing with backing from some of the most respected investors in silicon valley like Marc Andreessen, David Sacks and YCombinator. They are extremely legitimate. [https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/scribd](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/scribd) ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scribd-a-legitimate-website/712237/6 "2015-02-11T05:21:42Z")
The _company_ itself is very legitimate, and I would not be any more afraid of giving them my CC number than giving it to any other largish e-commerce site. That said, many of the _users_ on scribd are, um, questionable, and yes, a lot of material gets uploaded there that is not free of copyright issues. Pretty much anybody can upload anything, and it shows. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scribd-a-legitimate-website/712237/7 "2015-02-11T17:03:04Z")
You could think of Scribd as Youtube + Netflix, but for words. So, like Youtube, anyone can upload anything, and that stuff is available ad-supported. And sometimes people upload things they should not. Like Netflix, they have deals with publishers for certain works, and they collect subscription fees to access those works.