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Hi.

I've got an iPad, as it may be known, and I see it as a great opertunity to keep important books on me, without having to have them in physicality.

My question is, if I put a space marine codex and the rulebook onto it, and not with the permission of GW, [these being books I've already bought.] is it still illegal?

Yes.

Do you feel there is any chance that if I ask to download one, that they will say yes?/ give me a .pdf if I provide POP?

No.

You can download PDFs of all the Specialist Games and keep them on your iPad legally though. You can keep those anywhere you want! GW even provides them.

There is an exception but it relies on your being able to read Japanese.

All the codexes are available free in PDF format in Japan.

Actually you should be able to scan in your own copies of the codex and rulebook without breaking any copyright laws. As long as you do not distribute any copies or make them available to anyone else (they'd have to buy their own copies and scan them in).

Copyright does not bar all copying of material, only the distribution without permission or passing off other peoples' intellectual property as your own.

It would be best to email games workshop customer services to confirm their permission though.

Not so sure that applies to literature. Certainly the old books, with charts and stuff, had copying permission printed on the page. I would suggest this means you need permission first.

It bars copying of any material without permission.

If GW put a bit in the codex saying you are allowed to copy it for personal use, then you can copy it. Otherwise not.

Captain Solon wrote:Do you feel there is any chance that if I ask to download one, that they will say yes?/ give me a .pdf if I provide POP?

None whatsoever.

Kilkrazy wrote:There is an exception but it relies on your being able to read Japanese.

All the codexes are available free in PDF format in Japan.

Those crazy Japanese!

Actually under the doctrine of fair use or fair dealing (depending on what jurisdiction you're in) you can copy things.

Canada expressly allows copying for personal use, where as the US and UK have a fairly relaxed view of the doctrine. Essentially allowing you to copy material for personal use, as long as you do not distribute it to anyone else.

Solon - is that an Australian flag? If so the Australian laws are similar to English ones, so you should be ok to copy your own rulebook and codex for your own use.

I'd still email GW just to double check though...

Lord, As I have.

I also suggest they sell them in the iBooks app. xD

You can copy a small amount of a book as long as it for your own useage. Copying more than this, or the whole of a book or journal is illegal.

Fair Dealing : http://www.ipo.gov.uk/c-exception-fairdealing.htm

As others have said it's always best to contact the publisher though.

The Codex might state that you may copy the reference page at the back, this is the only certain allowance. Even then only some Codices have that statement and it is usually the ones with some tokens of some sort on the page.

Just do it i wont tell if you dont !

What would happen if I were to put every codex in the current edition, only one of which I ever actually bought, onto an Ipad along with every forgeworld book and a pdf copy of the main rulebook? Would that be illegal.

Not unless you add a year's supply of White Dwarf.

Kilkrazy wrote:Not unless you add a year's supply of White Dwarf.

I only put books on my Ipad that have some content in them. It makes an amazing PDF reader for wargaming reference.

ShumaGorath wrote:What would happen if I were to put every codex in the current edition, only one of which I ever actually bought, onto an Ipad along with every forgeworld book and a pdf copy of the main rulebook? Would that be illegal.

The world itself would implode.

Seriously; If reproduction of one codex is illegal, how is every codex going to be MORE legal? Consistency points? You're reproducing copyrighted works. It's bad. Agree with IP or not, those are the rules.

As far as what would actually happen? Probably nothing more than if you downloaded them on a regular computer. Stuff like that doesn't become an issue until it comes to the distribution level.

Might annoy your FLGS who depends upon that sale, but that's about it. Not very exciting eh?

daedalus wrote:

ShumaGorath wrote:What would happen if I were to put every codex in the current edition, only one of which I ever actually bought, onto an Ipad along with every forgeworld book and a pdf copy of the main rulebook? Would that be illegal.

The world itself would implode.

Seriously; If reproduction of one codex is illegal, how is every codex going to be MORE legal? Consistency points? You're reproducing copyrighted works. It's bad. Agree with IP or not, those are the rules.

As far as what would actually happen? Probably nothing more than if you downloaded them on a regular computer. Stuff like that doesn't become an issue until it comes to the distribution level.

Might annoy your FLGS who depends upon that sale, but that's about it. Not very exciting eh?

It was a joke question, I already knew the answer through experience. The answer is "it sure is convenient".

Kilkrazy wrote:There is an exception but it relies on your being able to read Japanese.

All the codexes are available free in PDF format in Japan.

Gamesworkshop Japan's site?

oooooh....free good!

Edit: As to the OP...

It's legal in Japan to make digital copies of books you own but you can't pay someone else to do it for you, it's called "Jisui".

In the U.S. a copyright holder would have to prove damages to get anything out of you and as long as you a)own the hardcopy of the product and b)aren't distributing it, you're probably ok. Note, I'm not a lawyer but here's a quote from one:
"Pamela Samuelson, a professor at University of California at Berkeley, who specializes in digital-copyright law. Trade publishers are almost certain to cry copyright infringement, she says, though it may not necessarily be the case.

Google was recently forced to pay $125 million to settle with angry book publishers and authors who claimed copyright infringement as a result of the search giant’s book-scanning project.

But not so individual users who already own the book, says Samuelson. If you scan a book that you have already purchased, it is “fine, and fair use,” she says. “Personal-use copying should be deemed to be fair, unless there is a demonstrable showing of harm to the market for the copyright at work,” says Samuelson."
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/diy-book-scanner/

Interestingly, the sixth character from the left in your sig file, looks very like William Hague.

Kilkrazy wrote:Interestingly, the sixth character from the left in your sig file, looks very like William Hague.

What are you implying here.

ShumaGorath wrote:
It was a joke question, I already knew the answer through experience. The answer is "it sure is convenient".

Fair enough. Your answer I will agree with 100%.

Illegal or not, GW isn't going to do anything to you as long as you don't spread it around and/or try to sell it. Just scan your own copy, make your own PDF, put it on your iPad and no one elses. If you're just playing at a local shop, no one is gonna care. If you play in GW stores then it might be an issue, but since there's only 1 employee there he's probably got other things to do that are way more important than reading whats on someone elses iPad.

Far as I'm concerned, if you bought the book you should also be allowed to do what you want with it as long as it doesn't involve selling or distributing to others. Don't download a codex though, just scan your own.

daedalus wrote:

Might annoy your FLGS who depends upon that sale, but that's about it.

Well since I am copying my own codexes I would assume that they have already made their money off me when I bought them...

That's not the way it works, unfortunately.

Ah, poor book owners, they now know the suffering that CD/DVD owners have felt for a while.

Melissia wrote:Ah, poor book owners, they now know the suffering that CD/DVD owners have felt for a while.

The suffering of unenforced, poorly understood laws and nearly limitless access to the material without having to touch a piece of paper?