photocopy a book for my ise

I want to photocopy a book that i have at work for my personal use at home. is that considered illegal or it should be fine?

It's definitely not OK.

Sorry - US Law Only

Without knowing the book there is no way to know for sure. It could be old and out of copyright. It could be from the government so it's ok to make copies. It could be a book where the copyright holder has given permission to make copies. Why don't you just look for a used copy for yourself?

samerfarjo, whether you are in the U.S. or in another country can make a difference as copyright laws vary in some significant ways from country to country.

As a note on the photocopying, however, what has been posted is correct. It will generally be seen as copyright infringement but, as swalsh has pointed out, this will depend on what sort of text is being photocopied and under what circumstances it is being photocopied.

There were recent threads on this forum that addressed the legality of scanning copyrighted books, and they are worth a review for their look at how the copyright law in the U.S. currently is viewing book scanning. While the law may change in the future (and possibly the near future) to allow for the changing advances in technology, it has not changed the legal status of book scanning yet.

There are several book-scanning services in business right now, both in the U.S. and in other countries around the world, and they are proliferating. These businesses have attracted the attention of authors, publishers and anti-piracy groups and there may be lawsuits filed against these businesses over their large-scale infringement of copyrights soon. Unfortunately, should these actions arise, they may also lead to a renewed push for anti-piracy legislation in the U.S. and elsewhere, the legislation of which to date has been far from perfect.

Because there is a lack of electronic books available on the market currently, many have felt that the scanning of books for personal use is justified to meet the expanding need. This justification for scanning is NOT one, however, that would hold up in a U.S. court. To personally scan a book (most books and under most circumstances) is a risk that could potentially be a costly one for the scanner.