[Destro]

If I go to a library and photocopy a chapter---I did it all the time for school--why is that not illegal--or is it but no one cared?

[TomGuy]

Copyright was intended to protect an author, for example, from having someone else steal his work AND resell it under the thief's name. If someone stole the original author's work and kept it hidden, without financial gain, then that would be a criminal act of theft, not a copyright infringement.

Downloading songs may be theft, not copyright violation, unless the downloader repackages and sells the song as the downloader's own. Downloading songs should be under theft crimes, not copyright crimes.

This just shows how convoluted the whole copyright/theft laws have become.

Hatch's remark to blow up computers is no less than blowing up one's house or tv if they steal cable or satellite; blow up their car if they fail to stop at a stoplight; etc.

[tracer]

"If I go to a library and photocopy a chapter---I did it all the time for school--why is that not illegal--or is it but no one cared?"

"Fair Use" doctrine and clauses in copyright law....