Renting and borrowing pirated books

17-1-2010 | IslamWeb

Question:

I have read all your fatwas regarding intellectual copyrights and understand that intentionally 'buying' pirated books is forbidden, but is 'borrowing' or 'renting' such books intentionally also prohibited?
In my town there is a rental library that rents pirated books, is it okay if i take these pirated books on rent? Also can i borrow pirated copies of books from my friends?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

According to the view that it is forbidden to copy without permission books whose copyrights are reserved to the author, it is not permissible to borrow or rent copied books without the permission of their authors; for more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 82812.

Allaah Knows best.