Free "in coyright" eBooks? Why do people think it is illegal?

Question

If an author writes a book and decides to put the whole thing online, there is nothing illegal about that. It happens... There are lots of them here for example... New Free Books.

http://newfreebooks.com

I don't see anything wrong with those free "in copyright" books... do you?

Answer 1

Your keywords are "If an AUTHOR writes a book and decides to put the whole thing online"-- the author is usually the one who controls what use is made of the copyright so if the AUTHOR decided to put it online it is all right. The only caveat is if the author has signed a contract with a book company which gives the company certain publishing rights that would conflict with free ebook publishing.



People who are NOT authors who post books online can be sued, even if the book is out of print. One of the early cases I recall had Harlan Ellison suing an internet provider for allowing someone to post the contents of four of his stories in a newsgroup.



From wikipedia, under "Harlan Ellison"



alt.binaries.e-book lawsuit



Ellison again came into the public eye with his April 24, 2000 lawsuit against Stephen Robertson for posting four of his stories to the newsgroup "alt.binaries.e-book" without authorization. Included as defendants in the lawsuit were AOL and RemarQ, internet service providers whose only involvement was running Usenet servers carrying the group in question, who Ellison claimed had failed to stop the alleged copyright infringement in accordance with the "Notice and Takedown Procedure" outlined in the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Robertson and RemarQ settled the lawsuit with Ellison, though he pressed on with his suit against AOL. The AOL suit was settled in June 2004 under conditions that were not made public.



Other posted stories and books have been hit with "Cease and Desist" notices if they infringe on another's copyright. I can think of a couple of short stories/novellas that have been removed recently for infringement.

Answer 2

That would be okay so long as the author/copyright holder gives express permission to put it online (and the site should be able to prove just that). If he/she has not given permission, then it is illegal because someone is not paying the author for his or her own intellectual property. That would be theft.



In one sense it would be no different than if you had written a novel, someone stole it and published it, and that thief gets all the money from the sales. You're left with nothing, even though you thought up the idea and took the trouble to write it.



There may be some unknown authors who give permission just to get their work out there, so that when they write more novels (if people enjoyed the first novel) those same people may buy the next - and recommend that author.



However, I can't see much benefit to established authors. (Most of them would have their own sites, anyway. If they wanted to offer free stories, they would probably put it on their own sites.)

Answer 3

If the author wants to put his own work online there is nothing wrong with that.

By the way http://www.ebooklobby.com has lots of free ebooks.

Answer 4

Since 1989, all printed material in the US is automatically copywrited. The same laws apply to these e-books as apply to any other copywrited material that you buy in a store. If the authors distribute them for free, that is fine. But they still hold rights over the material, and can sue folks for copywrite infringement if the material is redistributed, sold, or plagarized.

Answer 5

That wouldn't make a difference. Americans would still realize that those huddles masses are still illegal and should be deported!!

Answer 6

If I write a book I should be able to put it where ever I want. Why not online..

Answer 7

Here are some more:



Free ebooks



http://www.balajisebookworld.com/page_3.html (Free Downloads)



http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/sci-fi-fantasy-books/free-online-novels-116808/



http://www.free-online-novels.com/



http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com/



A grand total of over 100,000 titles is available at Project Gutenberg Partners, Affiliates and Resources.



http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page



http://www.literaturemaster.com/



http://www.truly-free.org/



http://www.bibliomania.com/



http://www.readprint.com/



http://www.readbookonline.net/



http://www.fictionpress.com/



http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/



http://www.free-ebooks.net/



http://manybooks.net/



http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/catalogs/bysubject-top.html



http://www.thefreelibrary.com/



http://www.baen.com/library/



http://www.ebooks3.com/



http://www.bookyards.com/



http://www.free-online-novels.com/



http://www.starry.com/novel/authors.htm