Is Z-Library Legal?
The Internet Archive describes Open Library as follows: They do not limit Open Library to people with print disabilities. Rather, they are displaying and distributing full-text copies of copyrighted books to the entire world without authorization, in flagrant violation of copyright law. Thus shadow libraries are innately opposed to the law of copyrights.
Legal Implications of Book Piracy
As long as you only download (and not share) publications for your private use, you are unlikely to have issues. For the average person, generally there won’t be any criminal consequences under copyright law from having pirated items on your computer.
Safety of LibGen Websites
Visiting the LibGen websites is safe, and they are maintained by volunteer librarians who love reading as much as you. All book files are also scanned for viruses by the librarians. Book files like EPUBs and PDFs are also not a real risk because they are not EXE files (viruses are usually EXE files).
Risks of EPUB Files
epub, . zip and .exe files contain malware that could give your computer a virus, install spyware to monitor your web-surfing habits or place adware on your system. Always make sure you have reputable antivirus software like Norton Security in your device to catch those nasty viruses. While not as prevalent as viruses in pdf files, an epub file can contain malicious code. It says that epub and mobi files can contain viruses or malware, just like many other file formats. It doesn’t seem to matter what the file type. When you download free ebooks from untrusted sources, you take a risk.