Can you photocopy BSA merit badge books?

To the extent the BSA owns the copyright of the books, and members are not employees of BSA, making photocopies would certainly violate the federal copyright of the BSA, not to mention the trademarks (by misrepresentation of source and quality). Clearly if it is for corporate benefit, such as saving the troop the money of buying more copies, it is an abuse of the publisher's exclusive right to make and distribute copies of its documents on a particular type of paper, etc.

On the other hand, because so much of each book is probably non-copyrightable facts or lists, the value of the copyrights may be questionable, even if technically actionable. You might ask the leaders if they are familiar with the concepts of "courteous" and "obedient", while attempting to be "thrifty". Also consider what will happen to the illegal copies after a scout has finished. Will they be destroyed or further distributed or copied?

If the books, and I don't have one handy at the moment, has a copyright on the inside, yes, this is illegal.

I have seen troops do this both ways. As long as the photocopied copy of the merit badge book isn't sold FOR PROFIT, it should be ok.<<<<<

Actually, I called the main Scout office, because I was concerned about this issue, as it sounds like you are. This was what they told me.