Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I remember that at least in the past you could copy books (and sell those copies) as long as you did not automatically copy the content. I.e. Copyright would not trigger in this case. Re-typing a book was expressly allowed.

Is that still the case?

A site like this could then used to make legal replicas of books.



I doubt it, and that's probably a good thing.

There's no such thing as "moving" digital information. It's like the transporter on Star Trek, you can only fake it by copying the information and deleting the source copy.

So, I... guess you could transcribe into a pipe which appends straight to a USB stick drive, and sell the drive? Good luck reading the contents though.


No, that's not how copyright works. Copying a book, whether you do it all at once or letter by letter, would violate copyright.

In this case, all of these books are older and their copyright terms have expired.




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: