|
Well, that's why I specified that I am "contemplating" it.
I've never uploaded anything to the IA, and it's unclear to me whether they leave user epub content "as is" or whether they convert it like they do their own scanned stuff. If the latter, UGH!
My point is that publishing the text of a book that has entered the US public domain is OK to do on IA. As long as the text is ALL public domain and has not had added copyrighted content of any sort.
I absolutely agree that the IA is not good about policing the SCADS of material, much under copyright, that people upload. They remove violations if reported, but don't take steps to prevent such content being uploaded again and again. Which is why publishers and authors have a very legit beef with the IA!
On the other hand, I can appreciate the fact the IA scans and loans older, OOP books. Buy a book on eBay, discover a missing page, you might be able to get the missing text through an Open Library loan. I did just that with a book that I'm slowly working on that's MR eligible.
And I use things like the archived US copyright records on IA to research stuff. The IA is a resource, in spite of the many flaws.
But yeah, copyright is a HUGE minefield.
|