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Originally Posted by Lizard Actually, no, you don't.
Legally, the company you paid for has an obligation to ship you the product by a given date; if they fail to meet that obligation, you have the legal right to demand your money back. There's no law I know of which states, "If you pre-order a book, the minute you pay you're entitled to aquire it by any means." Please remember, the people you bought the book from aren't the copyright holders. You may have bought the books from Amazon, but when you download them, you violate the copyrights held by WOTC. How does your purchase from Amazon give you legal authority to violate WOTC's copyrights? |
I agree, such a law would likely be almost impossible to enforce in any practical manner. However, downloading electronic versions of the books that you own the physical copyright to is a sticky legal issue. For the uninitiated, it is known as
format shift or
fair use ; the same loophole that lets you copy music you have on CD to an MP3 player. Or record TV programs to a VCR/DVR.
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Originally Posted by Lizard Perhaps I am ignorant of current jurisprudence on this matter. Links to relevant legal citations? I eagerly await the appropriate documentation for your interpretation of the law. |
Actually, I am probably ignorant of current jurisprudence as well.
As I search for some appropriate material, can you provide any that supports your own interpretation? Until we have some solid legal ground, I doubt we can get any useful dialogue going. Things seems to be devolving into more of a shouting match right now....
As I understand it though, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, copyright law in the US extends only as far as preventing distribution or displaying for-profit; merely obtaining something you own in a different media is not strictly illegal. So far, I attempting to slog my way through Section 107: Fair Use of the US Copyright Law. Can anyone provide courtroom examples?
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107
In particular, note: "The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors."
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Originally Posted by Lizard Meanwhile, I'll have to put this in the same category as the "My lousy boss doesn't pay me enough, so it's alright to shoplift" legal theory. (A close cousin to "They have insurance, so, it's not really hurting anyone" and "Those big companies have more money than they need, anyway.") |
Not to antagonize, but that's VERY much a strawman argument you have going right there. Nothing I said was even remotely similar to this. There is a very real and substantial difference between format shift and outright theft.
Also, to those accusing me of criminal behaviour and making generally insulting remarks (no names but you know who you are), I'd like to point out that no, I haven't downloaded the books and have no intention to. I'm presenting a scenario and making an argument for why it may not be "wrong". Nothing more.
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Originally Posted by warlockwannabe The key phrase here is PREordered. It hasnt officially been released. Therefore, no, noone was really supposed to see it before the 6th. Just be patient. |
Exactly. Patience is a virtue. I've got plenty to occupy the time, I'm just thinking out loud.
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