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Sci-Hub self-describes as "the first pirate website in the world to provide mass and public access to tens of millions of research papers". A Russian researcher posted most of the academic research publications that are usually behind expensive paywalls.

  • Is it illegal for people in the USA to access it?

  • If a DA wanted to prosecute someone for going and reading things from Sci-Hub, would they have a case?

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    as i understand it, receiving counterfeit products is legal as long as you don't try to sell them. not sure if the same is true for illegally copied information. in any case, this should probably be tagged with "copyright"
    – teldon james turner
    Commented Mar 16, 2016 at 22:59
  • @jamesturner Ok I added the copyright tag. It's interesting no one seems to have an opinion on this.
    – Dronz
    Commented Mar 17, 2016 at 1:12
  • Are you asking if it's a crime to read an article that is covered by copyright without license from the copyright owner?
    – jqning
    Commented Mar 17, 2016 at 1:22
  • @jqning To read? No. Clearly I may read a book or article by anyone, if I have it in hand. Or if I were at a library which subscribes to the journals that publish them. I'm asking about using such a web site to read the research papers it offers.
    – Dronz
    Commented Mar 17, 2016 at 1:42
  • In those situations you have license to read.
    – jqning
    Commented Mar 17, 2016 at 1:43

1 Answer 1

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Copyright in the US is usually a civil matter. Meaning that the copyright owner can sue (typically for money damages or injunctive relief) an infringer.

The criminal laws that we have are aimed at the reproducer and/or distributor.

In other words, chances are that you won't get in any criminal trouble for accessing academic articles of dubious origin. But never say never. RIP Aaron Schwartz.

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    In at least some cases, it's been proven that it's actually not even illegal to visit websites that have illegal material unless you save or print the material, at which point you've come in to possession of the material.
    – lawful-n00b
    Commented Mar 23, 2016 at 20:44
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    A judge in NY found that viewing child porn on internet not criminal possession bc no possession m.huffpost.com/us/entry/…
    – jqning
    Commented Mar 23, 2016 at 21:15
  • @jqning: The link in your last comment is dead. Repost it?
    – einpoklum
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 19:51
  • the child porn case is People v James D. Kent. New York Court of Appeals 2012. Throw this at google should get you there: "The question presented for our review is whether the evidence proffered at defendant's trial was legally sufficient to support his convictions for Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child (Penal Law § 263.15) and Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child (Penal Law § 263.16)"
    – jqning
    Commented Dec 2, 2019 at 21:15

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