I was recently unable to find a particular journal article I wanted to read that was referenced in something else I was reading. I only could find an abstract on Google Scholar, and nothing at all on Z-lib. I was able to get a full copy by just emailing the author at her university (I guess its true that most of them will give you a PDF if you ask. they are just glad SOMEONE is actually reading their work). But now that I have it, I fell obligated to share it with the world, the question is, where is the best place to put it?
Considering the version you were given by the author could be watermarked in some way, and they could get into shit from a publisher if you uploaded it for mass retrieval, you ought not to do this without their express permission. It’s different if you had downloaded the article from a journal/database yourself, or if it was some other version (like an unformatted manuscript).
They can’t get shit - you can. They’re allowed to give it to people who ask. You’re not allowed to upload it for mass retrieval.