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A few years ago I wanted to read Virginia Woolf's novel "To The Lighthouse" so I searched for it online and discovered it was public domain in her native Great

A few years ago I wanted to read Virginia Woolf's novel "To The Lighthouse" so I searched for it online and discovered it was public domain in her native Great Britain but still under copyright here in the United States. If I downloaded it from an UK server, would I and/or the owner of the UK server be in violation of copyright? If I bought a reprint in the UK that was printed after it entered public domain, would it be legal for me to carry the book back home? What about having it mailed? Is it realistic to expect the average reader to understand all of these details of various copyright laws across the globe especially in an age where data flows so easily and it isn't even obvious where from?

djsumdog 9y ago
As the person buying the work, you'd think you wouldn't face potential criminal charges; that this would be a civil case where the copyright holder would have to sue the distributor. However we're seeing copyright cases play out criminally now, with Kim Dotcom fighting his extradition from New Zealand.
- njharman 9y ago
  Copyright violation is a crime. Has been since the right to monopolize the public domain was enshrined in law (before copyright, there was only the public domain). It can also be a civil matter. But the JAIL time and $500,000 per infraction are criminal penalties.
tim333 9y ago
With a lot of these grey areas it's not really specified in the original laws and you have to look at court cases for legal precedent for how that kind of stuff has gone in the past. I think downloading from a UK server you would be in violation of US copyright law and in principle whoever inherited Woolf's copyright could sue. Also there are customs restrictions on bringing in fake copyright stuff that are sometimes used for fake Rolexes and the like. In practice no one would bother sueing over one copy of a novel.
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djsumdog 9y ago

As the person buying the work, you'd think you wouldn't face potential criminal charges; that this would be a civil case where the copyright holder would have to sue the distributor. However we're seeing copyright cases play out criminally now, with Kim Dotcom fighting his extradition from New Zealand.

njharman 9y ago
Copyright violation is a crime. Has been since the right to monopolize the public domain was enshrined in law (before copyright, there was only the public domain). It can also be a civil matter. But the JAIL time and $500,000 per infraction are criminal penalties.

tim333 9y ago

With a lot of these grey areas it's not really specified in the original laws and you have to look at court cases for legal precedent for how that kind of stuff has gone in the past. I think downloading from a UK server you would be in violation of US copyright law and in principle whoever inherited Woolf's copyright could sue. Also there are customs restrictions on bringing in fake copyright stuff that are sometimes used for fake Rolexes and the like. In practice no one would bother sueing over one copy of a novel.

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