Can you get in legal trouble for....

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21
Hello to all,
I was wondering if you can get in trouble for offering an illegal method in an ebook.

For instance,if I wrote a book on how to obtain country music cheap or free,and I list several sources to download the music illegally,can I get in trouble for it?
If that person gets in trouble,can I get in trouble as well?

My gut says no,since I have seen illegal suggestions in books several times,and since I am not directly doing it myself,but I am just making sure.

If I am not able to get in trouble for it,do I have to write a warning that says it is the users responsibility if he/she decides to use this method ?
I have seen warnings like this in several ebooks and I am not sure that the author writes it up themselves or if there is a certain place to obtain the warning?, much like the copyright notice.

Thanks in advance.
#main internet marketing discussion forum #legal #trouble
  • I think incitement to break the law is an offence in wherever you are. Even if it wasn't, teaching people to steal is skanky in any language. Charging the gullible for the privilege, well... there aren't the words. Printable ones, anyway.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Hum let me see if I have this right; you wrote an ebook on how to get music for free and point to illegal sites. So basically you are showing people how to steal.. I would say if teh music industry found out your butt will be in a sling.... and when you get caught your butt may end up somewhere else that you may not like :-)
  • It is illegal in the US

    (but then so is everything)
    • [2] replies

    • But yet doctors can write books on "how to assist in suicide" guides & get away with it....go figure.
      • [1] reply
    • LOL so very true!
  • Yeah, it's illegal.

    I have a client of mine who ran a forum... He didn't encourage it, but people discussed music piracy, things along those lines.

    Last I heard he was in some hot water over it.

    -Scott
  • Thanks for the replies...
    For the record,I am not writing an ebook on stealing music, as I dont think anyone needs help doing that.Realistictly,if you type the name of any song or album in google, usually free mp3's(albeit probably illegal) comes up.

    I mainly ask because I read a book called "1001 things to do if you dare" and not only are 95% of the 1001 things pretty dangerous,but many are illegal.So I was trying to find out,when you recommend things of this nature(both dangerous and/or illegal), what are the legal consequences.

    Downloading illegal music was about the least harshest illegal activity I could think of.
    • [1] reply
    • Here's another layman's view, based on reading the news a few years ago when Napster got into hot water, and so did many of its users...

      With the proper disclaimers, etc., as Paul describes, you might avoid jail time. Without them, it's called "conspiring to commit a crime" or possibly "aiding and abetting."

      If you see any level of success selling such a book, you could very likely end up owing your kids' inheritance to groups like ASCAP, their lawyers, your lawyers or, most likely, all of the above.
  • Well, one RUSSIAN once wrote a program to read Adobe files! When he came to the US, he was thrown in jail! Dimitry Sklyarov: Enemy or friend? | Tech News on ZDNet

    Then again, when I was a kid, someone wrote a book that basically told how to be a terrorist. I checked yesterday and, though copyrighted and they DO say it may be shortlived, some provide it for FREE! Amazon offers a new 2002 version for about $20!

    So WHO KNOWS?

    TECHNICALLY you are suborning theft. Although I think theft is low enough that it isn't actually illegal, some may use other rules, etc... to get by it. Look at Dimitry! He didn't really break ANY laws! At MOST, he spoke of things that required "reverse engineering", which was a breach of contract, but he may not even have been a party to that contract. It was a standard technique, so THAT wasn't illegal. It was a program to read files, which is not illegal. But the chance that it could be used to break protection to breach a copyright caused some to be upset, and he showed a problem with Adobe, which upset them.

    Steve
  • Banned
    I'm not sure of the answer because I have watched numerous "true crime" shows where the criminals had in their possession, books on how to hire a hit man, how to be a hit man, how to make a bomb, etc. One of the publishers of ... I think ... a hit man book was sued and won the case due to freedom of speech.

    That being said, I agree with Paul that it could depend on who sues you, how good your lawyer is and who the judge is.
    • [1] reply
    • I forgot about that! There IS one company I know of that seems to do NOTHING but sell prank/terrorist/evasion/pursuit books! They have been in business for at least a couple decades. They have books on making explosives, getting enemies in trouble, creating your own foreign bank, hiding, getting your own country, doing steakouts(complete with covert communications), etc.... Most of the stuff is illegal, used for illegal acts, or just BARELY legal.

      Steve
      • [1] reply
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