Legality of reading unpaid e-book/research paper (ex. from genlib/sci-hub)
<p>What is the legality of reading unpaid e-book/research paper (ex. from site like genlib/sci-hub) (In my case, in Indonesia). is someone eligible to be charged because they downloaded the e-book/research paper from that site? or is it just permissible as long as they keep it themself (They dont sell it &amp; They dont share it to many people)?</p>

<p>Edit:</p>

<ol>
<li>Add "research paper from sci-hub"</li>
<li>Add country of origin: Indonesia</li>
</ol>

<p>Most of the works available on Libgen are illegal: they have infringed copyright by putting copies there. Any copying of a protected work, done without permission of the copyright owner, is copyright infringement. That includes downloading from libgen. </p>

<p>Since you've specified Indonesia, I'll take this opportunity to highlight something fairly unique. <a href="https://wipolex.wipo.int/en/legislation/details/15600" rel="nofollow noreferrer">According to the World Intellectual Property Organization</a>, Indonesia "exempts the non-commercial reproduction and distribution of copyrighted materials through information and technology media from the scope of the authors’ exclusive rights." This is the first jurisdiction I've heard of where not only is the consumer in the clear, but the <strong>distributor</strong> may also not be violating Indonesian copyright law. Do note the non-commercial clause there though, I'm not familiar with whether genlib/sci-hub are commerical.</p>

<p>I'm relying on Google Translate here, and am in general not familiar with Indonesian law, but the legal basis for this is Article 43(d) of their copyright act (available via WIPO link above). Additionally, Indonesia is a jurisdiction that ordinarily allows private use copying via Article 46, though note copying of an entire book is excluded from this in section 2(b). Also note most jurisdictions which allow private use copying further specify that the source must be a legal one, Google Translate isn't quite good enough here for me to confirm whether Indonesia is one.</p>

<p>Again, take this answer with a grain of salt as I am not familiar with Indonesian law or language.</p>

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