Can authors email you for free PDFs of their textbook sold for profit
I am the author of a textbook. The book retails for $50. I get 50cents for every copy sold. 

I do not own the copyright on the book and it would be illegal for me to sent you a copy, even if I had a copy to send (I mean, I have the original word documents, but the final PDF looks nothing like that). 

The book has been scanned, and when it was not so old I know that copies of it did float around Pirate Bay. I wasn't particularly upset.