Did you do something wrong?

Question

You buy a paperback at a yard sale for a dollar. You read it, spill coffee on it, and drop it in the recycling bin.

Accepted Answer

Almost nobody convicts you. The first-sale doctrine says the copy is yours — resell it, lend it, compost it; the author was paid when it first sold. Publishers themselves pulp unsold copies by the truckload as routine business. Hold that thought. (4% of Americans answer "Wrong" — floor est.)