1009: My 2 cents. CoC is out of print. For years. The copyright holder didn't seem interested in reprinting the book (or did she even complaint about the pdf's circulating in the internet?). The book needs to be reprinted to help save lifes from a damaging cult (my old father wants to read it, but the printed book simply isn't available anymore in Dutch). So I welcome every initiative to make it available again.
CoC is out of print. That is correct.
And yes, CoC has helped a lot of people.
But that still doesn't mean that bootleg copies are legal.
My two cents is that anyone who engages in a mass distribution is doing so out of a lack of respect to the original creator of the work - Ray Franz. (I am not talking about sharing personal copies with friends - that is a non-brainer...no different than lending out a book that is yours - no law against that)
Respect for Ray Franz is analagous to respect for his estate and his wishes. He is the one who left his estate in someone's control. It astounds me that the same people who sing Ray's praises are also the same ones who think that just because his book was so good, that it should be thrown out to the public domain. That shows an utter lack of regard for Ray Franz. Just because he is dead doesn't mean that his original work is now free for everyone.
If anyone is truly sincere about making sure Ray's book is available, they would make efforts to contact the copyright holder and offer to pay the large amount of money needed to put a book back into circulation.
A few years back, I came across a book (doesn't matter what it was - it wasn't a exJW or JW book) that was no longer in print. I really liked the book and wanted to purchase several copies for other people. I contacted the author to see how I can acquire more copies. The book was out of print and the author told me that another run of books would cost her at least $10,000.
I have no idea what the cost would be to put Ray's book back into print, but I would guess that it is a substantial amount.
And...if the copyright holder is resistant to offers from others to foot the hefty bill of a re-print...then that is the copyright owner's perogative.
Respect for Ray should include respect for his estate. Stealing his book is no different than showing up at his home after his death and taking his car just because that car had driven a bunch of exJWs around.