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To -make- copies, not -take-. And yes. Every photocopy a text book? Ever trace out a comic book panel or other image? Ever make copies of a photo (obviously mo

To -make- copies, not -take-. And yes. Every photocopy a text book? Ever trace out a comic book panel or other image? Ever make copies of a photo (obviously more common digitally, but could be done in the film age too) that you didn't take originally? I've done all of them, they're all things I'm not legally entitled to do.

space_fountain 9y ago
I feel like there is a key difference in all the examples people are giving. Taking a picture of a text book for personal use is a only a small part of the complete work closer would be scanning the entire thing. Further assuming you keep it to personal use it's also very different than spreading it to others.
- lostcolony 9y ago
  Oh, I didn't say the textbook was -my- textbook. From the library or from a friend, getting the relevant bits we needed was super common, because the textbooks were infrequently referenced and super expensive for many classes. But, to the OP's point, I totally agree digital changes the equation. But it should also change the law. Theoretically having an img tag that references someone else's site could be thought of as illegal, after all. I'm reproducing the work without authorization, and even making money from it (ad impressions on my site rather than the hosting site), -while costing the original site money- (since they still pay the hosting and bandwidth costs). Digital changed -everything-, because the cost to copy went to 0. The laws have not kept up.
loup-vaillant 9y ago
France has this notion of private copy, where you can legally copy basically anything you want as long as you keep it to yourself, your family, and maybe some of your friends. Check your legislation. It may allow what you're talking about already. (Though I agree with you even if it doesn't.)
- ajnin 9y ago
  With the substantial limitation that the source must be "legal", i.e. you can't copy something from a torrent for example since it is likely the uploader didn't put it here legally. Also I think this is a European law.
  - loup-vaillant 9y ago
    I'm not even sure the sources must be authorised to publish the works for you to be able to copy it from them without legal repercussion. Our Hadopi law doesn't punish download, it punishes upload (more precisely, the fact that someone uploaded something from your network). Definitely not a lawyer, though.
- belorn 9y ago
  Since you mention France, what about taking a photo of the Eiffel Tower and publish it on a commercial site such as imgr/facebook/twitter?

space_fountain 9y ago

I feel like there is a key difference in all the examples people are giving. Taking a picture of a text book for personal use is a only a small part of the complete work closer would be scanning the entire thing. Further assuming you keep it to personal use it's also very different than spreading it to others.

lostcolony 9y ago
Oh, I didn't say the textbook was -my- textbook. From the library or from a friend, getting the relevant bits we needed was super common, because the textbooks were infrequently referenced and super expensive for many classes. But, to the OP's point, I totally agree digital changes the equation. But it should also change the law. Theoretically having an img tag that references someone else's site could be thought of as illegal, after all. I'm reproducing the work without authorization, and even making money from it (ad impressions on my site rather than the hosting site), -while costing the original site money- (since they still pay the hosting and bandwidth costs). Digital changed -everything-, because the cost to copy went to 0. The laws have not kept up.

loup-vaillant 9y ago

France has this notion of private copy, where you can legally copy basically anything you want as long as you keep it to yourself, your family, and maybe some of your friends. Check your legislation. It may allow what you're talking about already. (Though I agree with you even if it doesn't.)

ajnin 9y ago
With the substantial limitation that the source must be "legal", i.e. you can't copy something from a torrent for example since it is likely the uploader didn't put it here legally. Also I think this is a European law.
- loup-vaillant 9y ago
  I'm not even sure the sources must be authorised to publish the works for you to be able to copy it from them without legal repercussion. Our Hadopi law doesn't punish download, it punishes upload (more precisely, the fact that someone uploaded something from your network). Definitely not a lawyer, though.
belorn 9y ago
Since you mention France, what about taking a photo of the Eiffel Tower and publish it on a commercial site such as imgr/facebook/twitter?