File sharing

[Mark1970]

A few years ago, I did a higher education course, and some of the course books were available as e-books as well as paper copies. Recently, a friend expressed an interest in one of the subjects I studied, and I e-mailed to him one of the e-books from the course. I wondered afterwards if this may be considered sinful as I was effectively giving him a copy of the book without the author getting paid for it. Would my actions be considered sinful or am I just being scrupulous (again)?

 

[Pilgrim1701]

If you donated the book to a second hand, charity shop, the author would not receive any royalties either. They would just be paid for the original purchase.
Some e-book providers, allow for sharing, but, technical jargon aside, only one can use it at a time, as far as I know. The publishers, and the same for other media, music and movies, games etc, need to find a way, and invest to make file sharing more equitable to authors/artists etc, because file sharing is here to stay.
Put it like this: if you gave your friend a paper copy of the book you had bought and read, would you have the same scruples?

 

[Timothysis]

If you donated the book to a second hand, charity shop, the author would not receive any royalties either. They would just be paid for the original purchase.
Some e-book providers, allow for sharing, but, technical jargon aside, only one can use it at a time, as far as I know. The publishers, and the same for other media, music and movies, games etc, need to find a way, and invest to make file sharing more equitable to authors/artists etc, because file sharing is here to stay.
Put it like this: if you gave your friend a paper copy of the book you had bought and read, would you have the same scruples?

An excellent answer!!!

 

[edwest2]

A few years ago, I did a higher education course, and some of the course books were available as e-books as well as paper copies. Recently, a friend expressed an interest in one of the subjects I studied, and I e-mailed to him one of the e-books from the course. I wondered afterwards if this may be considered sinful as I was effectively giving him a copy of the book without the author getting paid for it. Would my actions be considered sinful or am I just being scrupulous (again)?

Avoid using the word scrupulous and use the word discernment instead. All book publishers are losing money from copies of books being stolen on file sharing sites. The lame excuse that you could have donated the book does not apply. Your friend should have purchased his own copy if he was interested.

Peace,
Ed

 

[Timothysis]

Avoid using the word scrupulous and use the word discernment instead. All book publishers are losing money from copies of books being stolen on file sharing sites. The lame excuse that you could have donated the book does not apply. Your friend should have purchased his own copy if he was interested.

Peace,
Ed

Have you never borrowed a book, magazine, cd or movie from someone else before, even from a library? Have you never bought a book, cd or movie second hand?

 

[edwest2]

Have you never borrowed a book, magazine, cd or movie from someone else before, even from a library? Have you never bought a book, cd or movie second hand?

As someone who works for a book publishing company, I know that libraries pay for the books they lend out (along with recordings and movies), and that there is a fee charged to the borrower if he does not return the book (or other item) in time. Libraries are supported by tax dollars.

I can sell any book I own to a used bookstore and get money for it. The used bookstore, when they sell the book, get money for it. At least 50% more than they paid me. No one can sell their e-book to a used bookstore. Odds are it’s on scribd or some other file-stealing site.

Everyone here needs to understand that billions of dollars are being lost every year due to Intellectual Property theft, even if they, personally, are not making money from it.

fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/cyber/ipr/ipr

Peace,
Ed

 

[Timothysis]

You did not answer the question; have you ever borrowed or loaned to another a book, movie or cd?

If Pilgrim were to loan me a book, be it paperback or an e-book, it is between he and I. Don’t tell me that we are stealing from anyone.

 

[dogen]

All book publishers are losing money from copies of books being stolen on file sharing sites.
Peace,
Ed

You need to show proof of that.

 

[edwest2]

Imagine working on a book for months and paying authors, editors and artists for their hard work and a printer, only to see it on a file sharing site scanned cover to cover 30 days later. That was one of our books.

According to the Book Industry Study Group:

“Piracy is pervasive. More than 40% of survey respondents said they bought a textbook from a pirate website, or know others who have. In addition, many respondents reported copying their friends’ textbooks.”

Peace,
Ed

 

[dogen]

Imagine working on a book for months and paying authors, editors and artists for their hard work and a printer, only to see it on a file sharing site scanned cover to cover 30 days later. That was one of our books.

According to the Book Industry Study Group:

“Piracy is pervasive. More than 40% of survey respondents said they bought a textbook from a pirate website, or know others who have. In addition, many respondents reported copying their friends’ textbooks.”

Peace,
Ed

I’m not talking about anything like that. I mean you can’t make a statement like you did without strong evidence. How can you prove that money is lost? You can’t read someone’s mind.

 

[prstoessel]

A few years ago, I did a higher education course, and some of the course books were available as e-books as well as paper copies. Recently, a friend expressed an interest in one of the subjects I studied, and I e-mailed to him one of the e-books from the course. I wondered afterwards if this may be considered sinful as I was effectively giving him a copy of the book without the author getting paid for it. Would my actions be considered sinful or am I just being scrupulous (again)?

You should not have emailed the book to him. But since you were not thinking about it until after the fact, the sin is venial. I would still confess it just to be sure.

 

[ssa_trad_cath]

Avoid using the word scrupulous and use the word discernment instead. All book publishers are losing money from copies of books being stolen on file sharing sites. The lame excuse that you could have donated the book does not apply. Your friend should have purchased his own copy if he was interested.

Peace,
Ed

Your comment raised an interesting question for me. Assuming that your assertion that what the OP did amounted to theft is correct, how does restitution apply in this case? Normally, for a sin such as theft to be forgiven in confession, there is morally an expectation that some kind of return or restitution of the stolen property will be made. How would that apply in this case? The only thing I can think of would be e.g. to make some kind of donation to charity.

 

[Mark1970]

Put it like this: if you gave your friend a paper copy of the book you had bought and read, would you have the same scruples?

No probably not…Interesting, isn’t it, how people don’t seem to worry about borrowing somebody else’s books, or buying second-hand, but file-sharing is seen as theft?

Your comment raised an interesting question for me. Assuming that your assertion that what the OP did amounted to theft is correct, how does restitution apply in this case? Normally, for a sin such as theft to be forgiven in confession, there is morally an expectation that some kind of return or restitution of the stolen property will be made. How would that apply in this case? The only thing I can think of would be e.g. to make some kind of donation to charity.

When I did the course, the cost of the books was included in the cost of the course without any kind of break-down of the cost. We were given paper copies and the books were also available for download via the institution’s website. So if you’re right that I need to make some kind of restitution - to whom, and how much?

 

[Cristiano]

Have you never borrowed a book, magazine, cd or movie from someone else before, even from a library? Have you never bought a book, cd or movie second hand?

I think that Edwest2 is usually going off the tangent when it comes to copyrights discussions; however, even if he borrowed some material or if he downloaded copyrighted material he could still be correct with his statement. A murderer that speaks against murder is someone that does wrong and that speaks the truth.

 

[edwest2]

Your comment raised an interesting question for me. Assuming that your assertion that what the OP did amounted to theft is correct, how does restitution apply in this case? Normally, for a sin such as theft to be forgiven in confession, there is morally an expectation that some kind of return or restitution of the stolen property will be made. How would that apply in this case? The only thing I can think of would be e.g. to make some kind of donation to charity.

I think guessing about a sin like this is not helpful. Contact a priest, any priest, and get his advice and counsel.

Peace,
Ed

 

[edwest2]

No probably not…Interesting, isn’t it, how people don’t seem to worry about borrowing somebody else’s books, or buying second-hand, but file-sharing is seen as theft?

When I did the course, the cost of the books was included in the cost of the course without any kind of break-down of the cost. We were given paper copies and the books were also available for download via the institution’s website. So if you’re right that I need to make some kind of restitution - to whom, and how much?

File-sharing is theft in most cases, and it costs billions of dollars in damages to publishers.

That’s why the Global Intellectual Property Center exists.

theglobalipcenter.com/

And it’s why the United States Department of Justice actively pursues those that engage in online theft.

justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/August/12-crm-1061.html

Peace,
Ed

 

[Bill_Martin]

Same thing as giving him a hard copy of the book. If I buy a textbook, go through a course with it, and then give it to a friend who’s taking the same course, I’m not stealing from the company.

 

[ssa_trad_cath]

Same thing as giving him a hard copy of the book. If I buy a textbook, go through a course with it, and then give it to a friend who’s taking the same course, I’m not stealing from the company.

There is one difference. If you give your friend the hard copy of the book, that’s just one copy of the book. But if you upload an e-copy of the book to a file-sharing site, it could get downloaded by tens, hundreds or however many people. And those tens, hundreds or however many people are going to be using a free e-copy rather than buying it, which would have an economic impact on the authors and publishers. I suspect that’s why previous replies have focused on the theft aspect, because you could argue that passing around free e-copies of books is effectively stealing the income the authors etc were expecting to receive from the sale of th books. Or whatever else is being file-shared.

And to be fair, from what the OP said, it soulds like he e-mailed one copy of one book to one friend, he didn’t upload it to a file-sharing site where an unknown number of people would have access to it. What the friend then does with it is another matter, but it seems to me that if the OP did do something wrong, it’s not in the same league as the file-sharing some people on this thread are referring to.

 

[Pilgrim1701]

Avoid using the word scrupulous and use the word discernment instead. All book publishers are losing money from copies of books being stolen on file sharing sites. The lame excuse that you could have donated the book does not apply. Your friend should have purchased his own copy if he was interested.

Peace,
Ed

Not all obviously.
amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200549320&ref_=hp_rel_topic&tag=533633855-20

Like I say, if publishers got their act together and caught up with technology, ways and means could be found to do this legitimately.

2nd hand and charity shops aren’t doing anything illegal either. Those who buy antique books also aren’t doing anything illegal. You may feel annoyed about it. That’s your prerogative.