Scanning out-of-print books and documentation

From: Craig Smith <ip500_at_roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Wed Apr 12 18:51:52 2000

It has been several years [actually more like 5] for me as well,
however--as I recall the penalty was for unattributed use--ie: stealing
the copyrighted information and/or claiming it as your own. I doubt
publishing on a web page [as a not for profit] undertaking--would be
viewed as a terribly egregious offense. Lots of places on the web have
scanned or OCR documents posted [copyright and all] and I've never heard
of anyone being overly hassled about it.
        Craig

Lawrence LeMay wrote:
>
> its been a couple years since I looked into copyright penalties, but if
> i recall correctly there is a fairly large cash penalty for violating
> copyright, and you can either chose that penalty OR seek actual damages
> if you can prove greater than the fixed amount in damages.
>
> -Lawrence LeMay
>
> > Jason has hit hit the nail directly with the hammer--DAMAGES are
> > the germane point. I'd guess you could go ahead and put almost anything,
> > copyrighted or no up on the web. In the unlikely event that the
> > copyright holder ever becomes aware of your infringement---probably the
> > worse case would be a cease and desist letter requiring you to take it
> > down. Very difficult if not impossible for them to prove damages--if the
> > work is long out of print there would be NO damages to prove anyway.
> > NB: Free legal advice is worth exactly what you paid for it!
> > Craig
> >
> > Jason McBrien wrote:
> > >
> > > Generally, if the publisher of the book or manual is still in business, they
> > > still own the copyright for the next 80 or so years. They tend to get upset
> > > if you redistribute it free of charge.
> > >
> > > However, if the book hasn't been published in quite a long time, the
> > > publisher won't care quite as much (I.E. it's hard to prove damages in court
> > > if you haven't published the book in question for 10 years, especially for
> > > outdated hardware) Check the publisher's website, amazon.com, fatbrain.com,
> > > etc... to see if it still in print or available. Better yet ask the
> > > publisher if you can redistribute it. I've seen many websites with
> > > reproduced instruction cards and owner's manuals with consent of the
> > > publisher. Just make sure all the (TM)s and (R)s are in the right places.
> > > Good luck.
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Ram Meenakshisundaram" <rmeenaks_at_olf.com>
> > > To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
> > > Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2000 10:52 AM
> > > Subject: Scanning out-of-print books and documentation
> > >
> > > > 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?? 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.
> > > > Thanks.
> > > >
> > > > Ram
> > > >
> > > >
> >
Received on Wed Apr 12 2000 - 18:51:52 BST