Stayseeliz Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 There is a facebook group that has to do with "homeschool freebies". Some of the resources are really cool like free lapbooks, etc. But some of them seem fishy to me. Apparently ALL the saxon math levels are in online format and available for "free". And a friend of mine said that someone gave her books like Story of the World, etc for "free" through dropbox. If these materials have a copyright on them isn't this illegal. I left the group when I saw these things because I feel like it's going to go the way of all the "free" music downloads where people were prosecuted for downloading this kind of thing. Any thoughts? IS this legal?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Sounds very fishy to me. If someone is giving things "free" via dropbox that's just wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandylubug Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 sounds illegal to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 She says that it falls under some educational clause where people can reproduce things for co-ops, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 She says that it falls under some educational clause where people can reproduce things for co-ops, etc. I think your friend is sadly mistaken. I hope SWB sees this thread, because she is losing money as a result of this kind of copyright infringement, and it's not fair to her (or any of the other authors and publishers who are being ripped off.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 She says that it falls under some educational clause where people can reproduce things for co-ops, etc. She is full of hooey. I recommend directing the person(s) to http://homeschoolcopyright.com/. Educational Fair Use does not give homeschoolers or any other educators unrestricted permission to copy and distribute whatever they want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Sounds very fishy to me. If someone is giving things "free" via dropbox that's just wrong. I think your friend is sadly mistaken. I hope SWB sees this thread, because she is losing money as a result of this kind of copyright infringement, and it's not fair to her (or any of the other authors and publishers who are being ripped off.) She is full of hooey. I recommend directing the person(s) to http://homeschoolcopyright.com/. Educational Fair Use does not give homeschoolers or any other educators unrestricted permission to copy and distribute whatever they want. :iagree: A big thumbs down to what they are doing. :thumbdown: They are stealing. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Doesn't sound right to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 No. It's copyright enfringent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 It is illegal. Educational fair use never gives someone the right to copy a published work in its entirety without permission. I would actually contact Facebook about the illegal file sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted May 28, 2013 Author Share Posted May 28, 2013 Thanks for the replies. I sent her the link and info I got from a friend who is in law school. I'll contact facebook about the group too. I backed out quickly when I saw what they were doing. I want nothing to do with that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgiaGirl160 Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Thanks for the replies. I sent her the link and info I got from a friend who is in law school. I'll contact facebook about the group too. I backed out quickly when I saw what they were doing. I want nothing to do with that! I am a published author who makes her living from writing books, or used to. What your friend is doing is stealing. It's illegal. The "educational" exception to copyright law she is asserting is hooey. She can get sued and fined big time. I started writing 20 years ago. Through the 90's, I made a decent living from my books, mostly through bookstores. Bookstores everywhere are going out of business, and so are many of the authors whose books used to be sold there. In the age of Dropbox, et al, it's become much harder. I cannot make a living wage selling my books anymore, and I'm actively looking for other work to replace that income. Not because people don't want my books, but because so many people all over the world think it's just fine to post them for "free" on the internet. I can find my books posted any day of the week at hundreds of internet sites all over the world, for which I don't get paid a dime. How could I ever sue them all? How can I sue someone in the Czech Republic, or Slovenia, or China for posting free copies of my books on the internet that can be downloaded in America? It would cost more than my house to hire a Chinese lawyer to do something about it. It is refreshing to read that anyone cares about this. Most internet discussions on the subject focus on "greedy authors" trying to hoard information that should be "free" to all. I doubt any of the people who say that have ever written a book. Thank you for being honest, GA Girl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 I don't know what "Dropbox" is, but it sounds like something to avoid. I have noticed myriad websites offering "free .PDF files" of all manner of material, presumably pirated. Decades ago, in library school, we were taught carefully about copyright laws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Yeah, there are definitely legitimate freebies to be had like old, expired books or books with creative commons licenses that allow for free distribution for educational (non-commercial) distribution. An example of this is Street Fighting Mathematics http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/street-fighting-mathematics I left a group that "shared" files like all the Singapore math books. The owner was very self-righteous about how it was fair. Even the publisher (small company) asked her to take them down and she wouldn't. I didn't think it was right. Dropbox is a site where you can store your documents in the cloud. You can allow other people to see your stuff. Yahoo has partnered with them so you can easily store your stuff there in connection with your account. It's how people are using it that is problematic, not the concept. Amazon also has a cloud storage service, that Living Books Curriculum and Brave Writer both use. Eta: I have bought material from CurrClick that generates a watermark with my email address on it, on every page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Knoll Mom Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 I don't know what "Dropbox" is, but it sounds like something to avoid. I have noticed myriad websites offering "free .PDF files" of all manner of material, presumably pirated. Decades ago, in library school, we were taught carefully about copyright laws. Dropbox isn't the problem. It's a cloud storage service that lets you store your own files "in the cloud" so that you can access them from anywhere. It's the way people are using Dropbox that is the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 That is really disturbing to me. First, because it is just wrong, and secondly, because it could be an impetus for publishers to restrict digital content in ways I can't begin to imagine. Personally, I would consider forwarding the link to SWB and other publishers. FB does not have a good record of regulating itself (as far as I know). Dropbox is fine -- it's a great program. I use it when I want to transfer my own files from a computer to an iPad and vice versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Thank you for explaining "Dropbox". I heard of it for the first time last weekend, when a friend told my husband that he could see photos from a recent community event at "Dropbox." I don't have any documents which I would want other people to view or share. Some people overdo the privacy response, but it sure seems that other people at times overdo the "my life is available to the universe" other extreme! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 I don't have any documents which I would want other people to view or share. Some people overdo the privacy response, but it sure seems that other people at times overdo the "my life is available to the universe" other extreme! I use Dropbox as cloud storage for myself, not sharing. Since they have had some security breaches in the past, I am not too interested in using it for personal documents, but I put a back up copy of, say, digital downloads that I have paid for, in my private space. No one else is supposed to access them, but I could if my computer and other back ups died, or if I want to easily get them from other devices. As I said, some people use cloud storage to allow people to access their files or samples of programs they sell, or to let family members download photos. It's not necessarily a wildly open life. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Thank you for explaining "Dropbox". I heard of it for the first time last weekend, when a friend told my husband that he could see photos from a recent community event at "Dropbox." I don't have any documents which I would want other people to view or share. Some people overdo the privacy response, but it sure seems that other people at times overdo the "my life is available to the universe" other extreme! I don't use Dropbox to share. I just use it to go back and forth between computer and iPad -- usually it's pdf that have made or downloaded on the computer and then want to use/annotate on iPad app Notability. I transfer things like Math Mammoth, maps to be filled in, science diagrams to color, etc. The pdfs can be annotated, colored on the oPad and moved back to the computer for storage. When you get Dropbox, which is free unless you want a lot of storage, you set up an account and get a password. IF I wanted to share anything, I would get a separate Dropbox account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supertechmom Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 we use dropbox as a family. The older kids type up their papers and load them into drop box and I can access them from wherever I am. It has come in quite handy as I can basically get their reports/papers in real time and grade it and put it back in dropbox. So much easier then stacks of papers that are always on my desk instead of on my device waiting for whatever moment I have to grade a paper (like waiting at karate, at the doc, at practices etc............) But for what they are doing......wrong. completely wrong . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 I don't know what "Dropbox" is, but it sounds like something to avoid. Not at all. Dropbox is a useful resource, even in the workplace. But just like any other tool, it can be misused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'smom Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Definitely illegal and something I would stay far away from. As far as Dropbox goes, it has lots of great uses. A group I am in uses it to store sign up sheets for volunteer positions. Anyone in the group can go in and modify the document to change what's needed or when they can/can't make it. It has nothing to do with "putting your life out there". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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