I study at a Dentistry College in Egypt and we suffer from the excessively expensive price of scientific reference texts so what is the ruling on buying copies of these books that are photocopied by some shops who then sell it? And if it is unlawful what is the lawful alternative [for example, more than one person participates in buying the original book then make copies of the book available to those who participated in buying the original book] and what is the ruling on copying computer software such as Microsoft Office and what is the lawful alternative for that practice?

All praise is for Allaah and peace and blessings upon the Messenger of Allaah. It is impermissible to print out or photocopy books that are protected by copyright laws without the permission of the author or whoever was given the authority to give permission because this is a type of money and the Prophet said: “The money of a Muslim is unlawful for others unless he gives it willingly” See (Sahih al-Jaami’ 7662). Thus, all book shops and software copiers must stop what they do. As for buying copies of these books or producing copies that are not original without the permission of the author or the owner of the product then it is impermissible to buy and distribute them because this harms the author and is considered abetting sin and transgression which we are forbidden to do. As for a group participating in buying a book then summarizing it and distributing this amongst them then that is permissible.