Copyright lobby targets "Pirate Bay for textbooks"

Finnish book rental service Bookabooka is being threatened by national copyright lobby organization TTVK for running a service the lobby group calls "Pirate Bay for textbooks".

Bookabooka doesn't host any e-books on its site, but instead allows students to rent their textbooks to their peers. Renting is conducted via traditional "snailmail" (i.e. postal service) and it is mandatory that the textbooks are originals (not xeroxed copies). Bookabooka acts only as an intermediate, connecting the students together and doesn't handle the shipping or returns of the textbooks.

Despite these "small" differences between TPB and Bookabooka, The Finnish book publishers' association (Suomen Kustannusyhdistys) is convinced that Bookabooka is breaking the copyright legislation and threatening their business. Annual school textbook sales in Finland were worth more than €100M in year 2007.

TTVK demands (PDF, in Finnish) that the service must be shut down by Friday this week or they'll sue the company. Bookabooka's founders have already stated that they wont respond to the threats, but instead will keep the service running.

Written by: Petteri Pyyny @ 21 Apr 2009 8:54

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23 comments

Mez

It is normal that any business that give the consumer a break will be 'under fire' from the 'blood suckers'.

21.4.2009 09:12 #1

bryston

In a way, this is quite similar to a movie rental business, so I guess Blockbuster and Netflix would get the axe by their logic also.

21.4.2009 10:05 #2

domie

Well whilst I don't agree with the heavy handed tactics adopted by the authorities , at the same time this is not the same as Blockbusters etc.
DVD rental copies are distributed to do exactly that - rent to a large number of different people ( each paying a fee for each rental ) - books are not published in rental and retail versions.

21.4.2009 10:24 #3

beanos66

Originally posted by bryston: In a way, this is quite similar to a movie rental business, so I guess Blockbuster and Netflix would get the axe by their logic also.No, more like the secondhand game market, which the industry dosen't like but is legal (until media companies start buying more politicians)

21.4.2009 10:30 #4

amf0802

How is this different than selling a used book on Ebay? I know they are only renting it, but either way the original publisher doesn't see a dime of the second hand sale/rent.

21.4.2009 10:46 #5

sgriesch

In my oppinion, this isn't very different than going to the library or schools issuing and colleting textbooks every year. One person buys them, and several people get to use them.
Domie is right. Books have never loaned on the business model that movie rental places use. I would suspect that the since the precedent has been long set that books do not require a per view fee, that this wouldn't change now. I don't think there is any legal ground for the lawsuit to stand on here. Since no copies are being made, there is no copyright violation.

21.4.2009 11:14 #6

Mez

No laws are being broken that is what makes this newsworthy.

Another blood sucker wants to bend laws so they can contunue to make money. Netfix sued Blockbuster for going into the internat rental business. The fact that they had taken their technology from other internet and brick and morter stores such as BB killed their case.

21.4.2009 11:49 #7

Hopium

"if anyone would like to borrow my calculator for class your punkass better have a note from the lawyers at texas instruments saying its OK"

the equivalent of my understanding of what they are trying to do

21.4.2009 13:07 #8

windsong

My comparative anatomy textbook back in the day was about 80 bucks. That same book is(many editions later) is now 160!

21.4.2009 14:50 #9

ivymike

So I guess that this means the Public Library must be in violation, Huh?

21.4.2009 15:06 #10

ThePastor

I can't see how this is illegal, and if by some weird stretch of the imagination it was illegal, how is this company liable?

They are not loaning or renting the books. The students are, which, as I understand it is perfectly legal.
The website simply hooks them up as "friends".
You could do the same thing in Facebook or any Web board or blog.

21.4.2009 19:00 #11

sgriesch

Originally posted by windsong: My comparative anatomy textbook back in the day was about 80 bucks. That same book is(many editions later) is now 160! Yea, if I had the option to rent the textbooks in college, that's what I would have done. $200 for 1 book is outrageous!

21.4.2009 19:04 #12

sgriesch

Originally posted by ThePastor: I can't see how this is illegal, and if by some weird stretch of the imagination it was illegal, how is this company liable?

They are not loaning or renting the books. The students are, which, as I understand it is perfectly legal.
The website simply hooks them up as "friends".
You could do the same thing in Facebook or any Web board or blog.Yep, it's like blaming Google or TPB for torrents. They just direct the user to them.
If you rent a car from Hertz they don't pay the car manufacturer anything else because they already purchased the vehicle to be rented.

21.4.2009 19:08 #13

UnDedFish

Time Machine is invented.
MPAA/RIAA/DMCA go back in time.
"Oh excuse us, you can't make the wheel, it's infringing copyright. We'll have to confiscate that. Also, you owe us edited."

21.4.2009 23:40 #14

emugamer

The only link that I see to TPB is that they are the conduit of what may be perceived as illegal activity. But at the same time, it's not comparable to lending a calculator to someone during class. Unless you rented out your calculator, thereby collecting fees and making a profit above and beyond what you paid for.

This is not related to Blockbuster, where there is a specific agreement/contract with the content owner allowing unlimited rentals for a flat fee. If book publishers priced books to allow the publlic to start their own rental services, then the price of a book would probably be 3x the price you see now (you think books are expensive now...lol). It seems that the argument is that the books are not being sold with any rental scheme in mind and people other than the content owners are (may be) profitting.

22.4.2009 12:17 #15

Lethal_B

Originally posted by UnDedFish: Time Machine is invented.
MPAA/RIAA/DMCA go back in time.
"Oh excuse us, you can't make the wheel, it's infringing copyright. We'll have to confiscate that. Also, you owe us edited."do not use that kind of language here thanks

22.4.2009 13:19 #16

varnull

How about the software in the calculator?

Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work.
I would rather you hate me for who I am than love me for what I am not.
Soon to be everybodys antipodean sex goddess.. actually only one persons.. but thats not the point. Move over Minogue.. midgets cant compare XD

22.4.2009 13:33 #17

emugamer

Originally posted by varnull: How about the software in the calculator?Point taken - comment edited.

22.4.2009 13:41 #18

varnull

Sorry.. I'm funky like that XD

soon they will be after you for using education you got at school.. "you can't use that unless you pay us for our IP"

it's an increasingly retarded world.. but they want a planet full of morons.. because uneducated media brainwashed sheep are easy to control..

remember kids.. Eastasia has always been our enemy ;)

22.4.2009 13:59 #19

emugamer

Originally posted by varnull: Sorry.. I'm funky like that XD

soon they will be after you for using education you got at school.. "you can't use that unless you pay us for our IP"

it's an increasingly retarded world.. but they want a planet full of morons.. because uneducated media brainwashed sheep are easy to control..

remember kids.. Eastasia has always been our enemy ;)As if college tuition wasn't expensive enough. $30k/year for a decent education excluding books, which can run anywhere between $100 and $200 a pop. I went through college photocopying a number of books and texts, because I just couldn't afford them, even with a part time job. Sometimes a few of us would buy a book and split the cost. One of us worked in a department that allowed him to get free photocopies. Thanks to that system of piracy, I'm no longer in debt for my education.

22.4.2009 16:35 #20

Hopium

im sorry but we are at war with eastasia, eurasia is our ally and always has been our ally, please refer to our newspeak for more information

22.4.2009 17:39 #21

sgriesch

Originally posted by emugamer: The only link that I see to TPB is that they are the conduit of what may be perceived as illegal activity.Yes, that was the point. The website merely links you to someone who has what you are looking for. The website would be at no fault. And in this case no copyrights are broken as nothing is copied. Just rented.

22.4.2009 18:13 #22

varnull

Actually things are just being shared by individuals who may or may not have purchased them...

so whatever you do don't give half that mcflurry you found on the street to that wino.. or they will be all over you for "sharing" something you may or may not have paid for which happens to be in your hands and have the right to share. How much stolen property is in the worlds large "pay to enter" museums?.. I can think of quite a lot... and state museums are no exception either. Anybody want some ancient Greek looted marbles?

These IP people are trying to overturn the old rule "possession is 90% of the law" .. once you have something, no matter how it was obtained.. it is within reason yours to do with what you will, just so long as you don't make thousands of copies and attempt to sell them as a/the original product (counterfeiting/piracy).. unless of course you happen to be a large media or software corporation.. in which case stealing somebodies IP and then patenting/copyrighting it right out from under the originator is 100% fair game.

22.4.2009 19:38 #23

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