Books on Telegram

Should I allow it when I bought the book, and I use the scan when the book is not nearby?

definitely.

Rabbi, even if this is halakhically permissible, shouldn't it be prohibited for moral reasons?

definitely

In the same vein, is it permissible to lend a book to a friend? If so, am I subject to a debate?

Really confused about this. Good question. But this question exists even without assuming that there is a prohibition on stealing. Even according to the methods of the poskim, which say that there is trespassing or violating a boycott, etc., what is the difference between asking and copying? I think the difference is that when you copied, you took another copy with you and that is stealing. When you ask and read, it is another use of that copy, which is not prohibited. And even if you copy, read and destroy, when you copied, you stole.

I wanted to suggest that when selling a book in any medium (hard copy or digital), the seller only allows the buyer to use it in the usual way. That is, if the seller sold a hard copy book, he does not allow use digitally unless you also buy the digital book, and vice versa. And as for lending a book, this is part of the accepted permissions for use in a hard copy.

This reminds me of the story of the American Monsanto Corporation (recently acquired by Bayer) that developed genetically engineered crops such as corn and soybeans and patented them. It sold farmers seeds of the improved crop, but the license for use prohibited the farmers from using the seeds that would grow in the next crop cycle after their initial harvest. In other words, every time they wanted to sow, they had to buy new seeds from Monsanto (even though they already had Monsanto seeds in their fields - only the license did not allow them to use them). Moreover, if some of the Monsanto seeds were blown by the wind and reached a neighboring field and grew there, the owner of the neighboring field was not allowed to use the seeds or the crop in any way. Monsanto also enforces their license restrictions with a fleet of detectives and investigators, and those who violate the terms of use are sued by Monsanto with another fleet of lawyers, and it is difficult for the average farmer to defend himself against this. You can see some of this in the Food INC film or in this YouTube clip: