Is it safe to download pdf books from issu

The legality of possession of pirated content varies across countries. In many countries, it is perfectly legal to have copies of copyrighted content as long as you don't share it with others. In the US, downloading such content is illegal, but you are unlikely to get into trouble by having illegally copied content on your hard drive. I found a great answer on Quora by an attorney, parts of which I'm going to quote:. Yes, it is illegal to download "make copies" of material that is protected by copyright.

However, all that is illegal is not criminal. Copyright for the most part is a civil statute, with civil remedies i. Criminal copyright infringement is much more limited than civil copyright infringement. It would be very difficult to classify what you describe as criminal. As long as you only download and not share publications for your private use, you are unlikely to have issues. For the average person, generally there won't be any criminal consequences under copyright law from having pirated items on your computer.

That isn't to say that a creative prosecutor couldn't make a case particularly if you have file sharing software installed, in which case you could possibly be looking at a violation of the second prong of the statute. But in the real world, this is not the type of crime that most police go snooping for when they decide to rummage through your laptop.

There are some cases where students are getting into trouble by using school equipment or connection to pirate content mostly audio and video , so it is probably a good idea to keep this business on your private computer. You can further decrease the chances of any legal trouble by using TOR, VPN and keeping the pirated content in an encrypted container with a strong password.

As long as you don't get caught downloading the files, you are unlikely to get in trouble. It's more about your own views on the ethics of scientific publishing and copyright.

Once you are on campus, use your student ID to log in on the library website. You may be very pleased to find out that the library has an agreement with, say, Springer, and that you — as a graduate student — are allowed to download in PDF format as many technical books as you want!

Therefore, why would anyone download books from sites other than the campus library's? It would be wise to assume that such PDF files are watermarked. They are supposed to help you in your research. If you start distributing PDF files that can be linked to your student ID, I suspect that your career as a graduate student will be rather short.

I was writing this as a comment, but it grew too big. In addition to JohnEye's answer, I would advise using a VPN all the time and keeping anything of value encrypted regardless of whether it is pirated or not. My personal view on intellectual property is that I like to try before I buy. Download it, see if it is any good. If it is, buy a copy, leave a good review, and recommend it to others. While it might be illegal from a certain perspective, it is also illegal for publishers to sell you junk not as advertised.

Good luck getting your money back from those guys. Internet is loosely regulated and it is good that way, in my opinion. Downloading copyright material without permission is likely regarded as illegal and unethical nearly everywhere.

However, you should check with your local university library for what services they provide. It may be that the local university has arrangements with academic publishers that permit their own students access in some form, either e-books, or interlibrary loan, or even possibly downloading at a modest fee. Another possibility is that you could seek to obtain a small grant from someone or some institution for the purpose of library building. Even a favorite uncle or aunt is a possibility for that.

No, it is not legal. Downloading copyrighted material from unauthorised sources is, well If I'm not mistaken LibGen was sued for that. Many universities' libraries have online access to some catalogues, so you would probably be able to access and download directly from Springer and it won't be illegal because your uni would have paid for access. Usually your local law will prevent copyright violations, therefore it is illegal, independent of your status.

It does not matter which computer you are using, but if you are using a university computer, your university rules might enforce further actions like kicking you out of university for using university equipment for illegal purposes, even if there is no official lawsuit against you. You'll have to check your local regulations for this, I assume they vary. The other question is if you will get into trouble - well thats the same with using illegal games, movies, books, etc No, of course it isn't legal.

But you should do it anyways. Books aren't exactly going to be cheaper when you get to the US, and that's not because the author has to make a living or any of those sob stories you hear from the propagandaists There is nothing unethical about not wanting to play a rigged game. Just make sure you download the stuff in a subtle way don't tell anyone, use a VPN, etc.

Short answer : No, it's usually not legal. Exceptions apply, but they are exceptions; one can assume it is illegal until proven otherwise. Long answer : this basically comes down to whether it's legal to create a copy of copyrighted material. Downloading vs. Streaming means viewing the content without creating a copy. Since you are downloading books, you are creating a copy, and copying laws apply. It is worth noting that even if you are able to stream the book instead of download it, it is still illegal, as a result of a landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice in the Filmspeler case.

Article 2 of the EU's copyright directive establishes that books are protected material emphasis mine :. Member States shall provide for the exclusive right to authorise or prohibit direct or indirect, temporary or permanent reproduction by any means and in any form, in whole or in part:.

Such a situation cannot be regarded as satisfying the condition of the fair balance to be found between, on the one hand, the rights and interests of the recipients of the fair compensation and, on the other, those of those users. The conclusion from all this is that, if the source of the copyrighted material acquired the material legally, then it is still possibly legal for you to make a copy of it other laws apply in that situation; what those laws are is outside the scope of this answer.

However if the source acquired the copyrighted material illegally, then it is illegal under all circumstances for you to make a copy of it. The next question is whether Libgen acquired the book legally. I'll consider it self-evident that for most books, they did not if they did, why would publishers be suing them?

Accordingly the conclusion is:. It is not legal to download copyrighted books from LibGen. You can still download if the copyright has expired e. See also: the answer to this question on the Law StackExchange , writen by someone more familiar with copyright law than me. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Legality of downloading books from websites such as Library Genesis Ask Question. Asked 3 years, 4 months ago. Active 1 year, 6 months ago. Viewed k times. Improve this question. Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. I found a great answer on Quora by an attorney, parts of which I'm going to quote: Yes, it is illegal to download "make copies" of material that is protected by copyright.

Improve this answer. JohnEye JohnEye 5 5 silver badges 9 9 bronze badges. If I go to jstor. All rights reserved. No other license mentioned. If I go to sci-hub. If the executable is unlicensed, it is most likely a threat to your computer and privacy. Note that not all unlicensed executables are bad, nor are all licensed executables good. If unsure, refer to the Tips section. Is it okay to download a mod for Minecraft that has a warning saying it could harm my computer, but it does not have.

If you right click on the file once downloaded, there should be an option to scan the file using your anti-virus software. If the file is genuine and safe, the scan will come up clear. If it isn't, remove the file and scan your computer with your anti-virus software to have it remove any malware.

Yes No. Not Helpful 10 Helpful Yes, its created by SONY. But if you download a cracked version of it, that could be infected with malware. Not Helpful 4 Helpful DeviantArt itself is safe, but some images may be offensive and download links may contain viruses.

Not Helpful 6 Helpful No, Mediafire is a file-sharing service. A virus could be uploaded to Mediafire by someone else, but Mediafire themselves do not.

Yes, If you're downloading from the official Firefox website, then it is safe to download the latest version of Firefox. Not Helpful 2 Helpful You have the option to choose "No" while installing the software. If you read the options and choose "No" properly, nothing but Cheat Engine will be installed. Not Helpful 2 Helpful 5. Is Warrior Cats: Untold Tales safe to download? No matter what I do my parents deny me saying it could be unsafe. From my research on the internet I can safely say this is a virus, the application installs tracking software on your computer and installs unwanted software.

So, yes this is an innocent looking application that tries to trick people into downloading it. I suggest you trust your parents for this one. To safely download games, go to the game's original website and not a free download site, as those have a very high chance of containing a virus. If you are unsure about doing this, try looking up reviews and information regarding that specific game.

Not Helpful 4 Helpful 7. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Use your common sense - could it be simpler? Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1. Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0. Type the name of the file into a search engine such as Google or Yahoo! Try to get yourself a decent anti-virus program on your computer.

Norton, AVG and Avast! Even if you just get the free version, it's worth having a defense against a multitude of threats. Type the name of the website on a WHOIS site and it will find you lots of details that help you decide whether you can trust your download. Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0. If you receive an E-mail from an unknown sender with a file attached, delete it immediately. That has 'virus' written all over it. Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0. Virtual Machines or sandbox programs such as Sandboxie can provide a safe way to test files.

Try an add-on, such as VTzilla. It can scan files before you download them and can also scan links. Try this: Open command prompt. The type the command: ping www.

If you use Kaspersky, it is a great idea scanning the file with a virus check before running it - just to be extra sure that your computer isn't at stake! Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. If you downloaded something suspicious and ran it, download and install an appropriate program to find any threats on your computer.

Avast, AVG, or Malwarebytes are good and free programs. Helpful 18 Not Helpful 9. If you're totally worried and don't know whether you should trust the file or not, don't. There's no point downloading something if you don't trust it. Some software that looks and is legitimate can actually be hacked. When in doubt, always scan the file for viruses! Related wikiHows How to.