> If I buy and read a book on software engineering You're comparing that you as an individual purchase one copy of a book to a multi-billion dollar company sys

> If I buy and read a book on software engineering You're comparing that you as an individual purchase one copy of a book to a multi-billion dollar company systematically ingesting them for profit without any compensation, let alone proportional? > do I owe the author a percentage of my lifetime earnings? No, but you are a human being. You have a completely different set of rights from a corporation, or a machine. For very good reason.