7 ms·
I can photocopy or scan every page. It may not be easy, but it's doable, and the publisher does not have technology that actively prevents me from doing this.
by chrischen 14y ago
I can photocopy or scan every page. It may not be easy, but it's doable, and the publisher does not have technology that actively prevents me from doing this.
- mcpherrinm 14y agoYou can photocopy every page of your ebook too. Probably even easier to accomplish!
- jlgreco 14y agoUnless I am mistaken, that would/could be legally considered circumventing DRM, and would therefore be technically illegal despite fair use (which would permit you to photocopy the print book legally).
- edanm 14y agoI'm not sure there's a difference in photocopying an entire book and doing the same to a DRM book. Do you know specifically that there is a difference?
- galadriel 14y agoOne is a federal felony, other is a fair use. EDIT: Specifically, it is against the law to break DRM (unless for few cases outlined by library of Congress), and the law as written makes no exceptions for fair use. The courts have also held in positive that it was Congress intend to make breaking DRM a crime even if there is a fair use case.
- Elepsis 14y ago... Except that's wrong. It's not fair use to photocopy an entire book and it never has been. Let's not lose sight of the actual laws in our blind rage against DRM.
- belorn 14y agoMaking private complete copies is legal in most countries, in particular European ones. Private copying levy stems from this concept. Photocopy an entire book for private use only is thus perfectly legal if you are in one of those countries which allows it.
- josephlord 14y agoNot all of Europe. It certainly isn't allowed in the UK but we don't have a levy on recordable media. It isn't even legal to rip music to listen to on a computer or an mp3 player. Not that this law is widely followed (or to my knowledge enforced).
- belorn 14y agoThere is discussion to create a global EU levy, but I didn't know UK did not already have it. To my knowledge, France, UK, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway has it, as well some of the baltic states.
- jlgreco 14y agoCopy a physical book and you have infringed on its copyright. Copy an ebook with DRM and you have done the same, AND run afoul of the DMCA. Lets not lose sight of the fact that DRM does present a different situation by pulling additional laws into play, in our blind defense of DRM.
- Dylan16807 14y agoIf you put that copy directly into a safe and only drag it out when the original is destroyed, it sounds perfectly legal under fair use to me.
- jlgreco 14y agoThe DMCA kicks in if there is DRM involved.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- pilif 14y agoYou can strip off DRM from an ebook. It's as illegal as photocopying every page, but slightly less cumbersome to do.
- ekianjo 14y agoWhere is it illegal to make a photocopy of your OWN book ? As far as I know, you are in your right to make a copy of something that you own for private use.
- rhizome 14y agoThey're probably referring to the scare-o-grams posted at and recited by employees of copy shops.
- w1ntermute 14y agoWrong. Photocopying for personal use is legal under fair use provisions. The only reason why it's not legal to do so with DRM-encumbered ebooks is because of the DMCA.
- snowwrestler 14y agoThe DMCA forbids circumventing an encryption system. Photocopying the words on an ebood screen would not seem, to me, to be circumvention since the content was decrypted entirely as designed to put those words on the screen. It might be copyright infringement, but would almost certainly be covered by fair use assuming it was not then distributed to others. I've never heard of a DMCA case prosecuted against someone who photocopied the screen of a ebook reader. If you know of one, I'd be interested to read it.
- w1ntermute 14y ago> I've never heard of a DMCA case prosecuted against someone who photocopied the screen of a ebook reader. In practical terms, the DMCA doesn't result in prosecutions of people who break DRM for personal use. It results in the prosecution of people who produce/distribute software that breaks DRM to allow consumers to copy media for personal use, because there is no practical way to find people who are breaking DRM for personal purposes. I can't speak as to photocopying the screen of an ebook reader since that has never happened (to my knowledge), but here's a similar case: Blu-ray discs are encrypted with AACS[0]. If someone were to make a program that, in real time, takes screencaps of a movie being played back by a legal Blu-ray disc player and records the audio output from the player, then recombines that fully unencrypted data into a video file also without DRM, that person would most definitely get hit with a lawsuit on the basis of the DMCA. 0: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Access_Content_System http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Access_Content_System
- curiousdannii 14y ago@pilif, you're allowed to backup CDs and DVDs, why not books?
- e12e 14y agoAre you allowed to do that in the US? I thought backing up a (movie) DVD would be considered circumventing DRM (CSS in this case) ?
- Tyrannosaurs 14y agoI'm not sure it's ever been tested (and potentially never will be as it's unlikely anyone would be taken to court over genuine backups I suspect). Isn't this one of those areas which even if it is potentially technically illegal is likely to practically never be an issue?
- Tyrannosaurs 14y agoI'm not sure what DRM your publisher is using that actively prevents you from backing things up if you're willing to exert a modest amount of effort (probably less than photocopying an entire paper book).