When I buy a physical book, am I entitled to scan for myself?
I don't mean to distribute, but to scan for myself to read digitally, am I allowed to do that legally and ethically when I buy a physical book or would that be totally unethical and illegal?
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Most countries consider this "private copying" which is legal. Not a lawyer, you should check your country's laws.
Unethical? Copying is not theft.
As long as you don't distribute it it should be fine legally (in the US) and is morally correct (imo) since it is your own copy of the book.
It is legal but in any case why do you care. If it were illegal it's not something that would be enforceable or something they'd be likely to "catch" you for, and it's definitely not unethical. Everyone should be free to do whatever they want with published literature.
We're entering a new world where local AI scans your photos and tells on you. It's only a matter of time before it's used for copyright enforcement.
Who's to say it isn't already? Android randomly identifying similar faces and making collections now
Ethics and legality are far from the same, or even linked.
I imagine it'd be the same as printing of a copy of the Mona Lisa and putting it up on your wall for your own viewing pleasure. Completely legal.
Where as printing it off and then charging other people to see it would be illegal.
The Mona Lisa is in the public domain, so no, that's not really a good analogy for a recently published book.
As long as you don't distribute it it should be fine legally (in the US) and is morally correct (imo) since it is your own copy of the book.
Ethically you can make as many digital or physical personal copies as you want for yourself outside of perhaps a concern for wasting resources but if you sell them you're taking away earnings from an author or rights holder or owner which may each have different moral weight and require recognition of property rights as a thing worth having. But if you're caught with hundreds or thousands of copies or copies where they are easily accessible to the public it's going to appear pretty suspicious.
You are legally permitted to do so, but not entitled.
What's the difference? DRM.
If you license a digital work, you are allowed to make copies for personal use. However, if the publisher includes features to prevent replication, you are not entitled to make a copy; in other words, publishers including DRM to prevent replication of their works is not illegal because you do not have a right to copy digital works you license, but you are allowed to do so.
So basically, they can try to stop you, but you're allowed to win.
I believe the distinction is you have a right to copy for own use/backup but you don't have the right to break the DRM preventing you from doing so.
For example, you have a right to make a copy of a video game (by installing it to hard drive) but DRM willl prevent you from running it unless you have the original disk in the drive.
What a depressing read this is, OpenAI has scraped tons of books and trying to scrape the entire internet and they don't have to worry much, but ordinary people have to think twice for scanning and donating the physical book to someone who might benefit from it, such a dystopic reality
I did my searching based on music/CDs since the wording is a lot more clear, but the same rules apply since were still talking about copyright infringement.
As long you’re making the copy for personal use and aren’t selling/distributing, you are fully in the clear:
https://www.riaa.com/resources-learning/about-piracy/
As far as ethical, this is mostly up to you, but unless it’s from an independent artist/distributor, I personally see it as: if you were never going to be a customer to begin with, they're not losing anything. I am, however, against then reselling it yourself. Ymmv.
Oh, thanks! I have some books that is occupying too many spaces and I was wondering about it, I don't know what I'd do to the physical book afterwards though, would I still be in the clear if I donated the physical book to a public library or would be better if I somehow recycle it since it's mostly paper?
Recycling is definetly in the clear, however donating to libraries would be more meaningful; as it offers a chance for more people to read them.
Technically speaking you’re supposed to destroy your local copy of you no longer have the original since the rights stay with the original. That being said, no one is coming to knock on your door for photocopying some books you owned and no longer own.