If Everyone Here Puts in $5.00 we can get the latest course and share it

Couldn't have said it any better. These people who have jumped in here condoning and rationalizing why stealing someone's product is ok would be the first ones to jump in here screaming if someone stole their product (which was probably created by stealing other people's products). They would be whining and crying foul and having little temper tantrums, but it's quite alright to click on the "I agree to TOS" button and then completely disregard it and give out a product that they have purchased ONE license for ONE person.

There are some really good posts and thoughts in this thread, but I'll put in my five bucks.

If a few of us went in together to buy physical textbooks for our kids to share in class I don't think anyone would care or have a copyright concern.

Now, put those textbooks in pdf format on a DVD and what is the difference? None. (So long as we're still talking about 1 DVD and not copying it.)

While it easy for eBooks to "try" and create licenses for personal use instead of having a sale, it doesn't work that way.

Although the law has certainly not caught up with the Internet and/or digital products in many respects, copyright law permits the owner to do with a book what they what - regardless of what the copyright owner tries to restrict.

Software is different because of the easier ability to create an enforceable license. Putting a book in pdf format, though, instead of printing it on paper, does not make it a license instead of a sale.

As an example, if I buy a physical book and the copyright owner has a statement on the 1st page saying the book is for personal use only and cannot be transferred to anyone else, that is unenforceable.

Similarly, put that statement on your ebook and good luck trying to enforce it.

If I buy that book I can let someone else borrow it. I can give it away. I can sell it at a garage sale. I can sell it on eBay. So long, of course, if I am not making copies but actually transferring in full what I have.

This is also known as the "first sale doctrine" if you want to do further research beyond this limited thread.

What gets tricky is that some software can be licensed and not sold, but the courts are all over the map on this. I think the key point for this thread, though, is that we are not talking about software.

Although Big Mike mentions his corporate experience and buying multiple copies for a library, that is not my corporate experience in law offices. You buy a code book, reference manual, etc., put it on the library shelf, and all 100 attorneys can use it. 100 copies of the book are not purchased just because 100 people can access it.

Sometimes, when court proceedings are hot, multiple people are using the same book, reading over someone's shoulder, etc.

If it's a digital product additional licenses may be purchased, or the price is higher depending on the number of employees, but that is because unlike a physical book the license is often based on the number of people who can simultaneously access and use the digital product.

Then, since there are potential simultaneous users it is like buying multiple copies of a physical product.

But if there is an ebook costing $100 and 20 people want to chip in $5 to buy it as group, and then pass it around so that every week a new person has access to it, not much of a legal problem.

Obviously, I'm not addressing any ethical issues here because the fact is some people cannot be trusted to honestly pass around an ebook jointly purchased and delete any copies from their computer. That's a big issue. Solve that problem and the debate goes away.