I don’t mean to distribute, but to scan for myself to read digitally, am I allowed to do that legally and ethically when I buy a physical book or would that be totally unethical and illegal?
Ethically you can make as many digital or physical personal copies as you want for yourself outside of perhaps a concern for wasting resources but if you sell them you’re taking away earnings from an author or rights holder or owner which may each have different moral weight. But if you’re caught with hundreds or thousands of copies or copies where they are easily accessible to the public it’s going to appear pretty suspicious.
It is legal but in any case why do you care. If it were illegal it’s not something that would be enforceable or something they’d be likely to “catch” you for, and it’s definitely not unethical. Everyone should be free to do whatever they want with published literature.
We’re entering a new world where local AI scans your photos and tells on you. It’s only a matter of time before it’s used for copyright enforcement.
You are legally permitted to do so, but not entitled.
What’s the difference? DRM.
If you license a digital work, you are allowed to make copies for personal use. However, if the publisher includes features to prevent replication, you are not entitled to make a copy; in other words, publishers including DRM to prevent replication of their works is not illegal because you do not have a right to copy digital works you license, but you are allowed to do so.
I believe the distinction is you have a right to copy for own use/backup but you don’t have the right to break the DRM preventing you from doing so.
For example, you have a right to make a copy of a video game (by installing it to hard drive) but DRM willl prevent you from running it unless you have the original disk in the drive.
I imagine it’d be the same as printing of a copy of the Mona Lisa and putting it up on your wall for your own viewing pleasure. Completely legal.
Where as printing it off and then charging other people to see it would be illegal.
For work in the public domain, that’s one thing, but for work which is still copyright protected, you can actually be sued for (shockingly enough) making copies of it.
Generally, though, most countries only care if you distribute copies of something (even if you’re not making money off of it), but that’s not to say that the concept of “distributing” hasn’t been stretched pretty thin in the past.
Rightsholders have gone after businesses and private individuals just for playing sports events on radio or TV audibly/visibly enough to have an “audience”, thereby infringing on broadcast rights. Even if they’re not charging a thing for it. Feel free to read this and see how far the insanity goes.
If I buy a book and make copies of the pages to takes notes on, that’s usually fine. But if I make a copy and give it to a friend…
Not a lawyer, and I don’t recommend asking for legal advice on a random forum. From an ethical standpoint, I see it as perfectly ethical as long as it’s for personal use and you don’t give anyone access to it. With that said, if you ever sell the physical copy of the book, I think ethically you’ll have to delete all the copies you’ve made.
