Quote:
Originally Posted by SleepyBob
I think you are both correct. The ebook is protected by copyright, but only because new creative work has been done to the PD text.
IF all that is stripped out, then what is left is not covered by copyright anymore. However, as rkomar points out, the only real way to be sure you have done so is to do a comparison with the actual original document. Otherwise, you have no true idea if what you have is consistent with the text that is in the public domain. It's possible they have made significant changes to the text itself.
If you strip out the preface and footnotes, you might be left with a PD book. Or, you might not.
|
That is my understanding of it too. The only way to prove your copy is the same as the PD copy is to have the PD copy for comparison.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hobnail
I'd heard it was done with maps; they'd add some bogus road.
|
John Green's 2008 book,
Paper Towns, is named for this practice. Wikipedia -
Fictitious Entry - talks about reference works with deliberate errors.