Laudetur Iesus Christus,

Mr. bodeens just recommended me a book: "Who Shall Ascend" (thank you very much) and it reminded me of this topic.

Is it moral to pirate a digital book?

Let's say in this specific case a book is sold for a reasonable price but the shipping cost from the US to Europe is exhorbitant, would that justify piracy? I would think not if piracy in general is immoral.

I would appreciate links to articles and books which quote pre-V2 Church teaching or comments anyone might have.

God bless you all.

It depends, epiphany is correct. Although, one has to wonder if it constitutes "theft" if your motivation is to borrow it like you would a library book.

I would appreciate links to articles and books which quote pre-V2 Church teaching or comments anyone might have.

God bless you all.

Denzinger, which is a handy resource for Catholic Dogma: https://u1lib.org/book/14465091/e4a377

It was impossible to use the previous year's book because it was written by the professor, who changed it every year thus  requiring students to buy the new edition.

Yes, this practice I consider immoral; this should be prohibited due to the conflict of interest there where the professor is trying to profit off of forcing his students to buy a new expensive textbook every year.  In most corporations, this kind of practice would be prohibited under ethical "conflict of interest".

The movement of media (books, articles, music, film, etc.) to digital formats poses a pretty serious problem for authors and creators, who though worthy of their hire, are no longer actually selling things in ownable formats. Billion dollar industries are propped up by the convenient fiction of intellectual property, but it's all a fiction. I like to think a Catholic society would find a way to solve that problem. 

It depends, epiphany is correct. Although, one has to wonder if it constitutes "theft" if your motivation is to borrow it like you would a library book.
Denzinger, which is a handy resource for Catholic Dogma: https://u1lib.org/book/14465091/e4a377

I meant specifically on the topic of piracy :D

Interesting thought on borrowing, if the book is in a library somewhere in the world that means the owner authorized its distribution and the only thing preventing you from borrowing is distance, with a torrent you could remove that obstacle.

That's what I'm going by, although I wonder if digital piracy constitutes theft for the reason Mithrandylan says. Can there be such a thing as non-physical property? If no, you could still argue that a digital book is physical.

If digital piracy is a sin, as I would assume, what would that mean for the Library subforum on this site?

Not a whole lot since the majority of the books posted there are outside of their copyright in the US.

Also, it may be theft, but would at worst be a venial sin as the matter here isn't grave. You're making a copy of a copy. The owner still has the object. Especially if it's some book that the author or publisher doesn't make readily available (out of print, publisher defunct) while technically still in copyright, it doesn't prevent them from receiving funds for the work since there's no one to receive them.

Do you have the same moral dilemma for buying a used book? The author and publisher are not receiving funds for your purchase of it, just the from the person who bought it new.

Now, if you're posting links to movies or brand new media just to circuмvent paying for it, then yes, that could be argued as a grave sin (I thank you Lad for clarifying that term for me now) because the intent is to defraud someone of revenue.

That's what I'm going by, although I wonder if digital piracy constitutes theft for the reason Mithrandylan says. Can there be such a thing as non-physical property? If no, you could still argue that a digital book is physical.

If digital piracy is a sin, as I would assume, what would that mean for the Library subforum on this site?

Yes. 

My soul is non-physical but it is my property.

My tax return, on my computer, is my property.

I haven't looked at the library subforum, so I can't really comment on that but if books are out of print, which so many pre-VII books are, then a digital copy of them is completely fine.

Hmmm, so if I watched tons of pirated movies while they were airing in cinema would I be obliged to make restitution by to the best of my ability producing a list of those movies and sending the corresponding ticket money (a lot of it) to the local cinema?

I sincerely hope not :D

I found an avatar for you:



Seriously though, I would be more concerned about the content of the movies watched. I don't think any financial restitution would be called for unless you were the one selling the pirated films and it involved a serious amount of money.