Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Feet wet?

[SeaLordOne@aol.com]

Peter & Ian,

I used to provide that photocopy service to the PSUBs community.  The book is so huge (764 pages) that I had to charge $75.00 for the photocopies, just to break even.  Then a couple of heavy hitters in the group accused me of profiting from copyrighted material.  I knew they were incorrect, but they were heavy hitters and I was a little nobody, so I figured I had better not argue.  I said I would be a good sport and I contacted the Navy to clarify the issue.

The Navy was surprised by my question.  One, the book is published by the Navy.  Two, it has no copyright stamp.  Three, it was printed by the United States Printing Office.  Why in the world would I think it was copyrighted?  It turns out that the Navy used to refer people to a dive shop in Maryland, which sold photocopies (for a profit...totally legal).  They were disappointed when the dive shop discontinued the business.  But the Navy did turn me on to a lead, which led in time to them supplying me with the last 200 copies of Manned Submersibles in the Navy inventory.  I have distributed those to PSUBers all over the world, but now they are all gone.

While I was handing out those 200 books, at least a dozen people promised me they would either build a website, or press a CD, or take up the photocopy mission.  So I figured that once I had distributed the 200 books, I could retire from the Busby Book Business.  The torch would pass on to someone else.  I am getting the bad feeling that none of those folks is currently in a position to continue providing Busby books to the PSUBS community.  If you are, please step forward.  If you are not, I am willing go back into the photocopy business.  I see Busby as the "bible" every PSUBber should have access to, if they want it.  I want to make myself useful to the community, in gratitude of all I learn from the community.  I was hoping to move onto other projects, but if no one else is going to do it, I will contine to be the go-to guy for Busby Books.  If someone could help me produce it in CD form, that would make it a lot cheaper.

One last comment on the public domain status of Busby.  Because of my job with the Federal Aviation Administration, I have access to copyright experts that may not be available to everyone in the PSUBs community.  I have also spoken personally and directly to quite a few Navy personnel about this issue (the Navy has reorganized a few times since Busby was published, so I had to follow the trail).  Public Domain means just what it says.  Mr. Busby never had rights to that book, never.  He did not sell the rights to the Navy...he never had them.  This was a "work for hire".  He agreed even before he wrote it that it would belong to the government and people of the United States.  That is how the system works.  You can photocopy it and sell it for a huge profit if you want to...that is perfectly legal.  You have as much right to that book as you do to the Holy Bible or the complete works of Shakespeare.  The folks who publish those works have no more rights to them than you do.

The governments of the world had the wisdom to make sure that, at some point in time, almost every non-classified written word will end up in the public domain.  Copyright protection is a temporary (often long but never permanent) "ownership" the government awards to some authors and their descendents to control/make a profit from, their work for a limited time.  But in time almost all of it ends up the property of the world's citizens.  The wisdom of the founding fathers of western civilization, I suppose.

I am hoping that my ability to provide 200 virgin Busby Books to the PSUBs commuity over the last two years will give me some credibility on this copyright issue with the Busby Books.  I would really like to "close the book" on that question.

Peter, please contact me off-line and we can talk about getting you a Busby, in some format.  If anyone else out there wants to become the new go-to guy for Busby books, please speak up.

Thanks,

Doug Farrow