Of the Injustice of Counterfeiting Books

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About this book

Of the Injustice of Counterfeiting Books is by Immanuel Kant. The contents list a deduction of the editor's right against the counterfeiter and a refutation of the counterfeiter's pretended right against the editor, each with a proof of the major and a proof of the minor, and a universal observation. The text says that those who consider the publication of a book to be equivalent to the use of an author's property in the form of a copy, and want to impose the rule that it is not permitted to counterfeit the book, cannot attain this anti-counterfeiting objective on that reasoning.

The text says the right of publishing never can be derived from the ownership of a thing (the copy) only, and that a positive right against a person cannot arise from the mere ownership of a thing. The text says the retouching of a book, in the proper name of the publisher, is no counterfeit and therefore is not prohibited.

About the author

Immanuel Kant

Kant spent his entire life in Königsberg, never travelled more than about a hundred miles from it, and kept a routine so regular that neighbours were said to set their clocks by his afternoon walk.