Book People Archive

Re: Fair Use and etext


----- Original Message -----
From: "Ryan Henrie" <ryanh@[redacted]>
To: <spok+bookpeople@[redacted]>
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2001 8:04 PM
Subject: [BP] Fair Use and etext


> 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

Ryan,

When you buy a copy of a book, that doesn't give you access, for free, to
own as many copies of the book as you like.  If you want a second copy, you
have to go to the bookstore and buy another one.  Same principle applies to
e-books (presuming, of course, that we are talking about a copyrighted
work).  It's another copy of the book; you need to purchase it, and you
can't legally copy it from a free source.  It amounts to theft of benefits
from the copyright holder.  The ease of copying electronic work has
complicated the issue, but it's analogous to taking your physical book to a
photocopier, which no one does because physical copying is too expensive.
None of this has anything to do with "fair use" provisions of copyright law,
which apply to quoting material from a work, not to making new copies of the
whole thing.

Bob Raven