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Share with neighbours legally

Sharing builds community, but copying purchased files for others usually infringes copyright. Share in ways the law allows.

How

1. Share freely anything that is public domain or openly licensed, keeping its licence note (entertainment-6).
2. Lend physical items: books, discs, games and instruments. US example: under the first sale doctrine (17 USC 109) the owner of a lawfully made copy can lend, sell or give it away.
3. Digital purchases are generally treated as licensed, not sold, so first sale may not cover copying them for others. Invite neighbours to watch together instead of giving them copies.
4. US example: in Capitol Records v ReDigi (12 December 2018) the Second Circuit held that reselling music files by copying them was not covered by first sale or fair use.
5. Run a community games night, music circle or story evening as part of the mutual aid plan in continuity-20.
6. Check your country's law; rules on lending and private copying differ.

Do these first

• continuity-20

Sources

1. First Sale (or Exhaustion) Doctrine in Copyright. University of Massachusetts Amherst (L. Quilter), accessed 2026-11
2. The Project Gutenberg License. Project Gutenberg, accessed 2026-11
3. Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc., No. 16-2321 (2d Cir. 12 December 2018): fair use summary. US Copyright Office, accessed 2026-11

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