Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Feet wet?

[Coalbunny <coalbunny@vcn.com>]

Photocopies are nice, but priginals are a thousand times better!  Thanks
for the original, Doug!  You da man!
Carl


SeaLordOne@aol.com wrote:
> 
> 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

-- 
"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible" - F. Zappa