[Buddha-l] Using (or not using) Library.nu

[Richard Hayes]

On Jul 19, 2011, at 09:26 , Dante Rosati wrote:

> what would be the difference between downloading a book from this or
> any of the many other similar sources, and taking a book out from a
> library?

When I take a book out of the library, no one else can use the book until I return it. Kindle users can now lend a Kindle book to a friend for two weeks, during which time the lender cannot open it, just as a lender cannot consult a book that has been lent out to a friend.

> and I'm not sure why its ok to download a pdf of a book you own, and
> then distribute it (or parts of it) to others who do not own the book,
> as Prof. Hayes does for his students?

There are legal guidelines that professors are supposed to adhere to. I'm not defending them, but I do obey them. (The Kantian in me dies hard!) The guidelines place a limit on how much of a physical book can be scanned and placed on reserve. It's something like 20%. So if I have a 200-page book, I can photocopy or electronically scan no more than 40 pages to make available to students in my class. If I want to have students read more than that, then I am supposed to request the students to buy the book. It makes no difference whether the photocopied or scanned book is one that I own or that I placed on reserve from the library collection.

> musical scores have a "do not copy" notice, with an icon of a xerox
> machine with a slash through it, and noone has ever paid any attention
> to it, certainly least of all in any library I've ever been in, all of
> which have xerox machines that are made extensive use of.

You have perhaps just given an example of a piece of behavior that illustrates the malaise of the society in which you live.

Richard