Q: If I wanted to build a website where person's can view eBooks for a small fee would that be copyright infringement?
A:
That sounds like copyright infringement.
Go see a lawyer before you release this website.
Will Blackton agrees with this answer
1 user found this answer helpful
A:
To add a bit more to Peter's response, yes, this would most certainly be copyright infringement if you do not obtain a license from the respective rights holders of each and every book you intend to put on the site. It's the same as if you wanted to created a site where users could pay a small fee to access and play music from a database -- Spotify, for example -- wherein the owners of Spotify pay blanket license fees to each of the public rights organizations (i.e. "PROs" -- the entities who control such music rights) for the right to allow its users to listen to music in their database.
Note that the statutory penalty for making these books available could be up to $150k PER INFRINGEMENT for any book that has been registered for copyright with the US Copyright office. That means up to $150,000 in damages EACH time someone views any book on your site.
Will Blackton agrees with this answer
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