Dear Teng Kee and all,

good to hear from you again, Teng Kee.

I just like to say that we should not infringe copyright of
intellectual properties, not just from a Buddhist perspective but also
as mutual respect we should show to fellow Pali academics and students.

OpenLibrary.org is a non-profit project with a database of public
domain books, though not all are full text and not all full text are
downloadable.

Google Books is a Google project to provide books viewing online.
There are public domain materials just like OpenLibrary.org. There are
also copyrighted materials made available through partnerships between
Google and the publishers. As far as I have seen, copyrighted
materials can only be viewed online.

Many Buddhist books published in Asia are usually done through
non-commercial or non-profit publishers. Some of these books end up as
free distribution materials one can pick up free or at the cost of
printing from temples or centres. Free materials are made available
through donations which covers the printing, usually the author and
publisher receive no royalties. Such is the long-held tradition in
Buddhist communities in Asia.

However, I agree with the popular notion, particularly in the West,
that it is important to maintain a quality publishing industry to
ensure quality books in the future. Copyright watchdogs are set up to
ensure the sustainability of the industry. Furthermore, I am 100% for
respecting copyright ownership, which I think there should be
unreserved respect and acknowledgment of others' ideas and creative
works, and fair use and support good books by buying a legitimate copy.

metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Ong Teng Kee wrote:

If some publisher spend money to publish saddaniti,there shouldn't be
any more free download online.I think the price is not too expensive.
I don't want to argue with Jon or anyone but please be reasonable.