Ethics of sharing purchased digital content

[Emerikol]

And this thread isn't directed at them. I mean, I'm sorry, but I tend to suggest that the topic of a thread (as compared to offshoots) is defined by the title and the OP.

I don't really mean to be aggressive here, but I still think that's answering a question the thread isn't asking. I mean, thread drift happens, but you should at least be aware that's what you're doing.

I think you are being excessive because the two are so closely linked. If I started talking about something unrelated that would be understandable though as you say it happens. Ethics and Law though? Wow that is slicing pretty thin in my view.

And on a board like this, I think there may be kids who don't even know it is illegal. They should know that fact.

And yes it is clearly unethical as it is stealing from the pdf creators.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I think you are being excessive because the two are so closely linked. If I started talking about something unrelated that would be understandable though as you say it happens. Ethics and Law though? Wow that is slicing pretty thin in my view.

Well, that may be the difference: I don't view law as having a particular close relationship to ethics. Some laws are to my view, very much unethical, and a lot of others are tools of administrative convenience. So I don't see them as closely related at all.

And on a board like this, I think there may be kids who don't even know it is illegal. They should know that fact.

And yes it is clearly unethical as it is stealing from the pdf creators.

Given even some of them don't think so, I think that's a broad brush.

 

[Clint_L]

I think sharing the PDFs with just your close friends is strictly wrong, but so minorly wrong in the grand scheme of things that refusing to do it is (imo) overly scrupulous. But it is good to keep in mind that it is ethically wrong, so that when you expand the behavior to dozens or hundreds of people/books, then you are doing something quite bad.

Many publishers have free or quick start versions. In that case, I think the better option is to refer your friends there. Perhaps you can give them a few pages of the class they want to play if it isn't in the quickstart.

Do you think lending a friend a book so they can read it or an album so they can listen to it is ethically wrong?

It's definitely not illegal.

We've been sharing our books, Dragon magazines, etc., with other players for as long as I've been playing TTRPGs (more than 45 years). And pretty much everyone I know has made copies of at least some of that material. And you know what: those copies ultimately resulted in a lot of books sold, because once a player got into a game, they usually wanted their own.

 

[Retros_x]

I think sharing the PDFs with just your close friends is strictly wrong, but so minorly wrong in the grand scheme of things that refusing to do it is (imo) overly scrupulous. But it is good to keep in mind that it is ethically wrong, so that when you expand the behavior to dozens or hundreds of people/books, then you are doing something quite bad.

As I said illegal does not equally ethically wrong - that is a fact btw the words mean different things. And easy to proof if you look to the legislative of dictatorships and corrupt regimes. So if something is ethically wrong depends on personal beliefs, thats why I am quite allergic to that sentence of yours "keep in mind it IS ethically wrong" as if that is a fact and not a personal belief. Heavily disagree with that.

And again in many countries using private copies for private purposes (including giving close friends them) is legal. So even from a legal perspective its not a clear cut question.

 

[The Firebird]

Do you think lending a friend a book so they can read it or an album so they can listen to it is ethically wrong?

It's definitely not illegal.

We've been sharing our books, Dragon magazines, etc., with other players for as long as I've been playing TTRPGs (more than 45 years). And pretty much everyone I know has made copies of at least some of that material. And you know what: those copies ultimately resulted in a lot of books sold, because once a player got into a game, they usually wanted their own.

No. Likewise, there is no issue with giving a friend your copy of a pdf. For me, the issue is with copying the pdf and then distributing it. Which is really not a big deal if you distribute it to 2 friends.