PLEASE HELP - Page 2

pdurrant · 03-09-2011, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andreibest

Also I'm from England does the same thing apply to England about if the author died before 1st January 1941, it's no longer in copyright and i can convert the eBooks?

Yes, UK (which includes England) follows a lifetime+70 years rule. So the published works of any author who died on or before 31st December 1940 are now out of copyright. (There are special rules for previously unpublished works.)

jgaiser · 03-09-2011, 12:32 PM

You seem to want legal advise, but without giving specifics. You probably won't get much help here.

As Worldwalker pointed out above, if the books are indeed public domain, you are going to have heck of a time convincing anyone that your books are better than those already available on the net.

If they're not public domain, I'm sure you will be quickly contacted by the rightful copyright owners.

Hellmark · 03-09-2011, 12:43 PM

Also, I do have to say that the law applies not from where you are from, but where your servers are located. If you are in England, but your website's servers are in California, then US law applies and not UK law.

HarryT · 03-09-2011, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Also, I do have to say that the law applies not from where you are from, but where your servers are located. If you are in England, but your website's servers are in California, then US law applies and not UK law.

... but UK law applies to those books that you upload to, or download from, those servers. ie, you will be breaking UK copyright law if you upload to the server a book which is still under UK copyright, even if it's in the public domain in the US.

snipenekkid · 03-09-2011, 02:04 PM

I don't get how the OP can be trying to do this w/o ensuring ahead of time, an understanding of the legalities of this aspect of the "business". Yes, even when giving them away there is a business aspect to it. Dude, HIRE AN ATTORNEY and write a darned business plan fer goodness sakes.

If it was easy everyone would do it. There are 100's of people here with the technical expertise to do what you are considering and even they don't want to even try it due, in no small part, to the complexities of copyright laws.

Even if you can provide the needed complete detail on what, specifically, you are attempting nobody can offer a general statement either way on what rights of distribution you have. Only an attorney familiar with this sort of thing and with the agreement you signed, agreed to, in front of him/her.

elemenoP · 03-09-2011, 02:25 PM

You are getting these ebooks from somewhere/some website/someone. Why don't you ask them?

Is this "make money reselling ebooks" thing some kind of ponzi scheme? And if you are going to give them away for free, where does the money come in?

eP

elemenoP · 03-09-2011, 02:27 PM

Is it this?

http://www.bookswealth.com/

Sorry if I gave away your big secret.

eP

Worldwalker · 03-09-2011, 02:36 PM

You mean the whole world isn't crying out for "Candy Making Revolutionized" or "Defeat Video Game Addiction"?

And I love what they're selling ... "How To Publish Your Own Best-Selling eBook in 21 Days Or Less - Without Writing!" Given that I haven't seen any best-sellers published without writing (unless they're suggesting hiring a ghostwriter -- is Ron Goulart available?) I'd guess that "sell what you just bought to other people" is probably the basic business model. Anyone who could produce a best-seller without writing would be racking up a fortune in best-sellers, not selling instructions on how to do it. As Snipe said, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Hellmark · 03-09-2011, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

... but UK law applies to those books that you upload to, or download from, those servers. ie, you will be breaking UK copyright law if you upload to the server a book which is still under UK copyright, even if it's in the public domain in the US.

That goes for the OP. If a user from Australia uploaded or downloaded something that wasn't in PD, then Australian copyright law applies to the user. For the OP to be kosher, all books he uploads to his server has to be clear in both the UK, and where ever the server is located. It is very easy to break laws in more than one country with one single act.

Worldwalker · 03-09-2011, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hellmark

It is very easy to break laws in more than one country with one single act.

Now you're making me want to break a law!

Stand back ...

FREE TIBET! DEMOCRACY IS A GOOD IDEA! AND WHAT'S WRONG WITH FALUN GONG, ANYWAY?

There we go. That feels better. Mind the broken pieces of Chinese laws laying on the ground.

jgaiser · 03-09-2011, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Is it this?

http://www.bookswealth.com/

Sorry if I gave away your big secret.

eP

Holy cow...! Here I've stuffing envelopes at home when I could be making Real Money™

pdurrant · 03-09-2011, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Is it this?

http://www.bookswealth.com/

If that site is the source of your ebooks, I just emailed them, and they say that "you may change the ebook format as you please" with the caveat that "the contents of the ebook may not be changed".

So if that is your source, feel free to convert the ebooks to a different format, so long as you don't edit the contents.

And it might be worth-while emailing them yourself to get your own confirmation in writing.

andreibest · 03-09-2011, 04:40 PM

Ok i wont convert them, ill just post the ebooks that are allowed to be given away for free as I'm guessing that will be alright. With some ebooks you have private label rights which basically means the ebooks is yours, with those rights can i convert it?

pdurrant · 03-09-2011, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andreibest

Ok i wont convert them, ill just post the ebooks that are allowed to be given away for free as I'm guessing that will be alright. With some ebooks you have private label rights which basically means the ebooks is yours, with those rights can i convert it?

You're not asking the right people. You need to ask the books' copyright holders, or other rights holders. In this case, the people running the website you've obtained the books from.

Worldwalker · 03-09-2011, 04:47 PM

I'll try to put this very simply and directly:

WE DON'T KNOW.

We don't know what the books are. We don't know where you got them from. We don't know who the authors are. We don't know who the rights owners, if any, are. We don't know what rights you bought. We don't know if the people had the legal right to sell them. And there is no way we can know any of this because you, not we, have the books and the information.

We don't know. We can't know. Asking the question repeatedly, or even asking it differently, won't make us know. We don't know.

03-09-2011, 12:32 PM	#17
jgaiser Omnivorous Posts: 3,281 Karma: 27978909 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rural NW Oregon Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle 3, KPW1	You seem to want legal advise, but without giving specifics. You probably won't get much help here. As Worldwalker pointed out above, if the books are indeed public domain, you are going to have heck of a time convincing anyone that your books are better than those already available on the net. If they're not public domain, I'm sure you will be quickly contacted by the rightful copyright owners.

03-09-2011, 12:43 PM	#18
Hellmark Wizard Posts: 2,549 Karma: 3799999 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: O'Fallon, Missouri, USA Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3	Also, I do have to say that the law applies not from where you are from, but where your servers are located. If you are in England, but your website's servers are in California, then US law applies and not UK law.

03-09-2011, 02:04 PM	#20
snipenekkid Banned Posts: 760 Karma: 51034 Join Date: Feb 2009	I don't get how the OP can be trying to do this w/o ensuring ahead of time, an understanding of the legalities of this aspect of the "business". Yes, even when giving them away there is a business aspect to it. Dude, HIRE AN ATTORNEY and write a darned business plan fer goodness sakes. If it was easy everyone would do it. There are 100's of people here with the technical expertise to do what you are considering and even they don't want to even try it due, in no small part, to the complexities of copyright laws. Even if you can provide the needed complete detail on what, specifically, you are attempting nobody can offer a general statement either way on what rights of distribution you have. Only an attorney familiar with this sort of thing and with the agreement you signed, agreed to, in front of him/her.

03-09-2011, 02:25 PM	#21
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	You are getting these ebooks from somewhere/some website/someone. Why don't you ask them? Is this "make money reselling ebooks" thing some kind of ponzi scheme? And if you are going to give them away for free, where does the money come in? eP

03-09-2011, 02:27 PM	#22
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	Is it this? http://www.bookswealth.com/ Sorry if I gave away your big secret. eP

03-09-2011, 02:36 PM	#23
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	You mean the whole world isn't crying out for "Candy Making Revolutionized" or "Defeat Video Game Addiction"? And I love what they're selling ... "How To Publish Your Own Best-Selling eBook in 21 Days Or Less - Without Writing!" Given that I haven't seen any best-sellers published without writing (unless they're suggesting hiring a ghostwriter -- is Ron Goulart available?) I'd guess that "sell what you just bought to other people" is probably the basic business model. Anyone who could produce a best-seller without writing would be racking up a fortune in best-sellers, not selling instructions on how to do it. As Snipe said, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

03-09-2011, 04:40 PM	#28
andreibest Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: kindle	Ok i wont convert them, ill just post the ebooks that are allowed to be given away for free as I'm guessing that will be alright. With some ebooks you have private label rights which basically means the ebooks is yours, with those rights can i convert it?

03-09-2011, 04:47 PM	#30
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	I'll try to put this very simply and directly: WE DON'T KNOW. We don't know what the books are. We don't know where you got them from. We don't know who the authors are. We don't know who the rights owners, if any, are. We don't know what rights you bought. We don't know if the people had the legal right to sell them. And there is no way we can know any of this because you, not we, have the books and the information. We don't know. We can't know. Asking the question repeatedly, or even asking it differently, won't make us know. We don't know.

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