Is it prohibited to obtain a digital book/music for free (when normally it is sold, but someone made a copy of it and publicized it)?
What was the rationale of the person who copied it?
to allow others to read and listen for free
As long as the intention was not to cause harm to the Artist and there is NO CHARGE whatsoever, meaning the person copying is NOT doing it for a business, then it is permitted.
This is clearly the Halacha as ruled by the Rav.
Nevertheless as of late many lawsuits have ensued and it is not clear (at least to our limited research abilities) if in fact it would be illegal. As a result of the possibility of that, the Halacha would dictate that one must follow the law (dina demalchusa dina) even in the event that Halachically its permitted.
I’d like to point out, as a composer and performer, copyright fees is what we are making our living from. Copying in any form without our permission or those who represent us is stealing.
Don’t you need permission from the author/copyrite owner to copy and or distribute?
This may or may not be accurate, as pointed out above. If in fact it is against the laws it would be. If not, it is also not against Halacha
From 1974-1977 as I was stationed in Germany with the US Army, I also was “appointed” as being in charge of all music programs by the community chaplain. I can’t speak about Jewish music, as we did not have Debbi Friedmann et al. at this time. But was made aware that copying copyrighted music, even if not for profit, can lead to serious civil penalties.
In those days, I ended up paying extreme attention to the Catholic Church, as they evolved into contemporary music. Many chapels ended up making copies for their musicians… He was awarded $7.5
It was also at that time, that composers sued churches for copying their music.
1973 Ray Repp vs. Archdiocese of Chicago. He was awarded $ 7.5 million in damages.
1974 Fulmer vs. Diocese of Phoenix. She was awarded $ 3.7 million in damages.
There were a few more lawsuits and my role was to prevent them from happening to us.
LTC Rabbi Helman (Community Chaplain) would not have been happy with me, if this would have occurred.