Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike L
If you buy the book, then scan it, and keep the scanned book for yourself without giving copies to anyone else, then it's legal.
But you've got to ask if it's worth the effort. In order to scan it, you'd have to take the book apart, and then you'd have to OCR it, proof-read and correct it. Easier to just read the paper version.
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OK, supposing one *has* decided it is worth the effort? I have a 40 year old paperback from my childhood, purchased by myself. It is now falling apart. I dearly want to preserve it for reading on my nook and am planning to very carefully read it into text via speech recognition software on my computer, carefully proofing as I go.
The book in question is rare and out of print. Almost impossible to find. I've had a standing search going on eBay for a while.
The author is dead. I believe copyright resides with his family... but they have not been able to get a publisher to reprint the book. I know they have been trying for some years now from posts I have read that I believe are from a family member.
So here's the question: since I plan to digitize this book anyway, for my own use, how could I go about sharing my work with the author's family, so they could potentially have the book properly and legitimately published in ebook form?
I know where a family member has posted on a particular board, and clearly, I could get an anonymous email and offer the work through that board, but how would I prevent someone else from contacting me and posing as the family member? There's no PM function on the board that I have seen. And even if there was, while I am about 99% certain the postings I've seen are from a legit family member, I can't be 100% sure. This is, after all, the internet.
Ideas, anyone? My motives are good, but I sure wouldn't want to get in trouble for trying!