Re: solutions manual

Arggghh.... It's bothersome when the original post gets deleted and then it looks like I've started some forum thread in which I'm responding to a non-existent statement. Just for clarification, the OP created this thread with the title/author of a few hundred solutions manuals which he/she claimed to be giving away. I pointed out that this was illegal and the post has since been removed.

I hate to burst your bubble, but even if you somehow got a hold of all of these legally, which I doubt, you most certainly are breaking the law by passing them out. Furthermore, I highly doubt the moderators in charge will allow you to illegally pass out all of this copyrighted material.

Have a nice day!

how many legal solution manual you know of? they are all illegal.

What? There's nothing intrinsically illegal about a solution manual. If I own a textbook and do all the problems and write down how to do them, I have not committed a crime. The crime is distributing (and especially selling) copyrighted material without permission.

I'm not quite sure of all the legal ramifications of any of this, but I do know that in general there are a few different types of solutions manuals. Some are teacher editions which are only supposed to be sold to the faculty while others are allowed to be sold to students. I don't know if it is actually illegal for a student to get a hold of a teacher's edition but there most certainly are student solution manuals, so they aren't all illegal. In either case they are supposed to be sold and my main objection was that none of the solution manuals posted by the OP were commercial free and copyright free and obtaining these in any manner and then giving them away is illegal.

I know of plenty and they are all legal. Some texts sell side by side with their solution manuals in the student bookstore, and every text has an instructor's edition with solutions. Using them to gain an advantage over other students is contemptible, but the manuals aren't illegal.

you guys know what "solution manual" is. materials that students shouldn't have access but are transfered person to person.
you solved all the problems, good for you, but you are not supposed to make a pdf and post it online.

nobody said books sold in bookstore are illegal. of course a published solution manual that is a companion to the textbook is another book ( and that is just a way to double the cash. then whats the difference between example and problem). the instructor's manual is subject to be used by the instructor and not the students. so using them by the students is not legal or is considered as academic dishonesty.

btw, Im getting a little perfectionist here. you want to use solution manual, go for it. the books that the guy had listed were type of books with cracked solutions which are available online all over the web. selling them is just scamming.

Academically dishonest is quite different from illegal.

I'm not sure where you got this idea, but the term solutions manual most commonly refers to a booklet typically written and published by the same authors and publishing company that wrote the original textbook and is frequently sold alongside the textbook.

Some examples include:
Halliday Resnick & Walker: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/047055 ... VYTZ8F3XQR

Molecular Quantum Mechanics: http://www.amazon.com/Solutions-Manual- ... 0198559682

Quantum Chemistry: http://www.amazon.com/Student-Solutions ... pd_sim_b_4

and all of the books that the OP referenced, so far as I could tell, were these type of professional/published solutions manuals which in all likelihood were obtained illegally and were being distributed illegally.

and just to be clear, the OP never asked to be payed for giving away solutions manuals. He/she was just offering to give them away, which is still entirely illegal.

I think that if someone finds that the only way they can get their homework finished is by resorting to a solution manual (or by asking your fellow students for help), then they should seriously consider whether or not they are getting into a career for which they are suited.

The way you become strong is by lifting weights. The way you become smart (in physics) is by doing problems. Both on your own.

There is not a single person in this thread (except perhaps the OP) advocating the use of solutions that were not intended for the students, so arguing that point is, well, pointless.

Distributing copyrighted material without permission = illegal
Using a solution manual to help your dumb-ass do your homework = lame, but legal

Is there really anything actually illegal about solution manuals? I could be wrong, but I kind of doubt it.

This thread brings back memories of a classic debate over the ethics of "copying" and the relationship between plagiarizing for papers and using solutions manuals in physics class...

Am I Super Screwed?

I don't think there's anything wrong with using a solutions manual. Very few of my classes assigned problems from the book. A solution manual would just let you practice more questions from the textbook (and checking if it's correct). I think distributing those solution manuals to other people is illegal. But the simple fact of having them is not illegal and is not academically dishonest. If you were using them for homework, then that's morally wrong, but just having the solutions to practice is not.

No one is talking about using the solution manual for problems that weren't assigned by the instructor. We're talking about using it for assigned and graded material where it has not been made available to the rest of the class.