Back to search

Do copyrights reserved for the author mean preventing the commercial exploitation of the book or preventing personal use of it (such as copying and downloading)? And is it permissible to download books for free from the internet, or must they be purchased?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The phrase "All rights reserved" signifies the protection of the financial and intellectual rights of the author, website, or programmer. This means it is impermissible to copy or download their content without the owner's permission, because intellectual property rights have a legally protected financial value. Therefore, it is not permissible to infringe upon them, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Indeed, your blood and your wealth are sacred to you." Copyrights and patent rights are legally protected, and their owners have the right to dispose of them. Accordingly, it is not permissible to copy programs or written works, whether for personal or commercial use, except with the permission of their owners or by purchasing them. Lending a book is permissible, provided it is not commercially copied.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy