Fair Use and etext
- From: Ryan Henrie <ryanh@[redacted]>
- Subject: Fair Use and etext
- Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 22:04:35 -0600
Here's a question that I've been pondering about for a little while.
If you can legally have an mp3 copy of an album (or in any electronic
format) if you own the album on CD, is there anything similar with a book
that you own, and therefore it would be legal to also have an etext copy
of it?
If so, it really wouldn't matter what the source of the etext was (personal
scanning, find it on the net, from a friend, etc.).
If not, what's so different from owning the paper copy on the one hand, but
not being able to read it on a computer screen on the other?
Technically, the copyright applies to the words that make up the book, not the
paper that it's printed on. Wouldn't the "Fair use" doctrine let you have
access to the text of the book in any form, since you "own a copy?"
If anyone has some insight into this problem, please pass it along ;)
Ryan