Contemporary Catholic ebook as free pdf file - illegal?

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Xandria

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Today I was on the hunt again for new Catholic ebooks by the saints to load to my kindle. I found a great website put together by a well-meaning Catholic that offers tons of them for free, of course, since they do not have copyright. However, I also noticed that George Weigel’s biography of Pope John Paul II “Witness to Hope” was among them as a free pdf file. At the first moment I was thrilled, because the book is very high on my wishlist and quite expensive for my student budget. But unlike the classical works of the saints, this one can’t be legal, right? I would love to put it on my kindle but would feel too guilty reading it, if it is illegal.
 
If you’re worried, why not try contacting the website publisher to find out if it’s legitimately available as a PDF? It could be an honest mistake or it might be being made available by the author or his own publishers in electronic format for reasons of their own.
 
After a certain amount of years, books are considered in the public domain so copyright laws don’t apply. Find out the boundary in your area then check what year the book was first published.
 
You are correct regarding Weigel’s book. It is under copyright. Unless he and the publisher gave this website permission to distribute it, they are doing so illegally.

You should not download it without checking.
 
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