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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/7432
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I'm preparing some briefing notes on various open licences and I'm looking for some clarification on legal aspects of standard practice in the UK. (If there is a better SE site for this question feel free to move it.)

Let us say a novelist has a book published in the UK, and the book is later scanned and distributed for free on the internet by a malicious third party. What UK laws have been broken? I mean, one can certainly see how it would be hurtful and damaging to the industry, but I'm interested to know which specific laws have been broken - is it exactly the same as for, say, music and film, or is it covered separately?

PS I'm asking specifically for UK law here, but I'm sure that answers dealing with US law will be informative and interesting; I'd like to see them, they just won't help much with the problem I have...

Original score: 3