Okay! Only just a few moments ago I got accepted into an online discussion forum specifically about digital copyright issues, and have yet to post my question(s) there, but once I do (and have received some responses) I'll share those.
In the meantime, I just did some related searches regarding whether or not one can copyright the design elements of an ebook, and I found some stuff that might -- if nothing else -- provide some food for thought. These first couple of links are referring to the HTML/CSS codes for websites, but surely the same applies for ebooks as well.
From...
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3...t-infringement
Quote:
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All code, like all content, unless explicitly released under a more permissive license, is copyrighted. Copying snippets of neat features on other sites, which is, of course, done a lot, will probably fall under "Fair Use" (look it up) in the US, or similar regulations elsewhere. However, copying a complete style sheet or HTML template, without prior permission from the author, is illegal.
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From...
http://webdesign.about.com/od/copyri..._copyright.htm
Quote:
A Good Rule of Thumb - HTML and CSS Are Protected by Copyright
If you see a design that you like, save it to your hard drive, and then replace all the content with your own, you are violating copyright. This is true even if you change the IDs and class names to make it look like your own work. If you didn't spend the time to create the HTML and CSS yourself, then you may be violating copyright.
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Also worth looking at is this page, which goes into detail with suggestions for what to put right
in your source code in order to declare your copyright on that
code (and, in effect, the
design of your book)...
https://www.boutell.com/newfaq/creat...otecthtml.html
And here, on the question of whether or not "derivative" works of source material that's in the public domain can be copyrighted, this site deals specifically with ebook publishing...
http://blog.kunvay.com/copyright-101...-self-publish/
Quote:
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A derivative work can be a translation, a musical arrangement, a fictionalization of some event, or a condensation of a work. If the original work has entered the public domain then the derivative author may freely claim copyrights in the work he had produced based on that work.
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As far as what I've been working on re my own ebook (with regard to correcting/revising those 16th/17th century public domain texts), I can't imagine that anyone would argue that that's not a "derivative" work -- although at this point it wouldn't surprise me if someone here did anyway.
Anyway, I just thought the above might be of interest, if only in the interim here -- as I said above, if/when I get some replies from that digital copyright forum, I'll share whatever else I've learned from there over here.
