Legality of DVD novel collections?

[JD]

So would it basically come down to whether or not you retain your copy when the other person gets theirs?

 

[Kor]

The seller listed nine copies of the disc. I highly doubt that she/he lawfully obtained nine separate licenses for all 828 titles and is not keeping copies while distributing them.

So... who wants to step up and click the "report this item" link?

Kor

 

[Dayton Ward]

You can't make unlimited copies of your e-Book files for sale or other distribution. You're typically limited to a small number of devices where a copy can reside (example: 1 computer, and 2-5 other devices like phone, e-Reader, etc.). That's pretty well laid out in most EULAs.

Simple test: If you can't find a commercial equivalent to what you're seeing on eBay, chances are good it's a shady purchase. The publishers don't currently produce CDs/DVDs with hundreds of eBook titles at bargain basement prices.

 

[DimesDan]

who wants to step up and click the "report this item" link?

Go on then.

 

[Idran]

So... who wants to step up and click the "report this item" link?
Kor

I'd done that after my first post in the thread, for what it's worth.

 

[Kor]

Go on then.

Thanks so much, I think I will do so.

Kor

 

[DimesDan]

Thanks so much, I think I will do so.

Not a problem and thanks for the wee laugh there.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I'm working on the assumption that at somepoint the individual has paid for the ebooks and then made a copy because money would already have been generated for the original sale.

But he or she is mass-producing the disks and selling for profit. Very different to a second hand book that can only be sold to one customer at a time. (Here in Australia, we also have "public lending rights", so even copies of books in public libraries make one sale, and then ongoing monies, based upon frequency of borrowing, for the Australian authors.)

Also, buying one author's book second hand or on eBook, or borrowing from a library, might make you want to go out and buy their other titles new. If you already have their whole back catalog on the one disk, you wouldn't be tempted to spend any money that would flow-on to the author, Pocket or CBS.

 

[tomswift2002]

It's still up in the air whether you're fine or not; the question of how first-sale doctrine applies to electronic works isn't settled law yet. Especially given that most eBooks are technically licensed, not sold.

Even with physical copies, really all that you are buying is the physical medium. I remember a professor telling me once that with a VHS tape all that you are buying is the plastic shell and the magnetic tape; you are only licensing the pre-recorded content for private home use. So if you wanted to record over the program you could, but you couldn't make copies of the program for selling. But laws have been put in place allowing for the selling and transference of physical media.