I was browsing a local bookstore recently and came across a really marvelous collection of architecture in one of those huge high-quality color photo books that costs a fortune.
Imagine someone came in with a camera and went through the book methodically photographing every page and then left without buying the book. Would it be illegal if all they did was use the photographs for their own viewing?
Unless the text of the book was in the public domain, that would constitute a copyright violation.
Unless they have written permission of the copyright holder it’s illegal. Also the store wouldn’t have to allow you to photograph the book even if you had permission, because the store owns that copy. Nothing grants you the rights to copy a book for personal use. You want it, you buy it.
That’s kind of what I figured, although I’m wondering if a digital image, if it’s never committed to a hard copy and never shown to anyone, still counts as a reproduction.
I guess the closest paralell would be taking a Video Recorder into a movie show and recording the movie for your own use. Or in the old days you used to be able to go into a “listening booth” and listen to vinyl album. Some people would bring portable tape recorders. Of course in both cases the quality is bad.
Let’s not confuse illegal and criminal. It would be infringement: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/usc_sec_17_00000501----000-.html which would subject the photographer to civil penalties. It would probably not be a crime, given this assumption: 17 U.S. Code § 506 - Criminal offenses | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute
Definitely. Did you miss out on the whole music piracy and filesharing situation over the last decade?
Even if you own it? Suppose you buy the physical copy and then copy it, intending to load it onto your own personal e-book reader. This is analogous to ripping a CD to load the songs on a personal mp3 player. Is the former example illegal, while the latter is legal?
It’s a bit more complicated than that. We talked about it some here: Can I legally copy my music then sell the originals? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
and in some other threads that I’ll have to dig for later.
That’s taking the comment out of context. The comment is intended for the book in the store you didn’t buy.
It’s still infringement in the way that making a photocopy of an entire book is an infringement even if you didn’t intend to sell it.
Duly noted. My question was more of a partial thread hijack.
Let me reverse the situation. If I own an ebook, am I within my rights to print it out so I can read it on the crapper? If so, why is this not a two-way street?
(Maybe this necessitates starting a new thread)