Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Feet wet?

[Steven Mills <cirtemoeg@juno.com>]

Doug,

I thought there was a scanning project in progress?

http://www.busbys.hpg.ig.com.br/busbys/toc.htm

The progress has slowed a bit. I assumed he was pooped-out from
all that scanning or his scanner gave up the ghost. [ that's quite a task
}

Perhaps we could all chip in our time and help out a bit. I could scan a
few chapters. For the sake of consistency set a standard for scanning
resolution and type of file [ ie. jpeg, bmp, tif, or gif...etc. ]

--Steve





On Wed, 22 Oct 2003 12:14:29 EDT SeaLordOne@aol.com writes:
> 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