On Wed, Apr 12, 2000 at 10:52:16AM -0400, Ram Meenakshisundaram (rmeenaks_at_olf.com) wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I want to start scanning some of the transputer books and manuals that I
> have. A lot if not all are out-of-print. If I scan them and put them on
> the net, do I have to worry about copyright laws, etc. Would I get into any
> trouble?? What is the current policy on this??
Depends very much on where you are. If you're in a country that
respects the Berne Convention (which most Western nations do), then
you need to get permission from the copyright holder, or wait until
the document becomes public domain.
Keep in mind that absence of a copyright notice doesn't mean absence
of copyright.
There's an American "Copyright Crash Course" at
http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm
which is educational and entertaining, and the Copyright Myths FAQ is
a mustread, too, at
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
> I know several of you guys scanned several
> books/documentation/manuals etc for various machines. Any help in
> this would be appreciated. Oh, what about old software too.
Software is also intellectual property, and this is copyrighted as
well.
(Disclaimers: I am not a lawyer, and I am not American.)
-Rich
--
------------------------------ Rich Lafferty ---------------------------
Sysadmin/Programmer, Instructional and Information Technology Services
Concordia University, Montreal, QC (514) 848-7625
------------------------- rich_at_alcor.concordia.ca ----------------------
Received on Wed Apr 12 2000 - 10:22:22 BST