It's not that hard to read the US Copyright Law. Visit http://www4.law.cornell.edu ; either read the DMCA (you can search for it), or just look through the relevant sections of Title 17. On Sun, Mar 11, 2001 at 06:55:32AM -0800, A. Melon wrote:
Does anyone know the law regarding duplication of out of print books/other works?
Yes. Being out of print is irrelevant. What's relevant is whether it's copyrighted.
E.g. Stephen King withdrew his book 'Rage' (support your neighborhood second-hand bookstore) about a schoolkid who holds his class hostage at gunpoint, shortly after the Littleton shootings. King _does not_ want this book to be available to the public until the mess blows over.
This is most assuredly copyrighted. It's conceivable that King (who, I believe, owns his own copyrights) granted the book to the public domain, but don't bet on it.
If I distributed this book in electronic format for free, I would not be costing him a single penny. Would I still be violating the DCMA and which other laws would I violate?
You could anticipate being found and prosecuted. Under Title 17, the fines can add up quite quickly: per copy made. This is why Napster was fined hundreds of millions of $$$. Your profit or motive is essentially irrelevant to copyright law.
Also, what if I claimed that books like King's were in some way responsible for the current spate of shootings? Would I be able to reproduce the book (so my quotes can be judged in the context of a whole work) in order to campaign against it? Or can he legally suppress his own works?
Huh? If you bought the book, then various rights are yours. These do not include redistributing the book except under certain circumstances (a.k.a., "fair use"). Producing quotes or whatever from a book for a court is one thing. Mass distribution of a book is another. Search for "harlan ellison" on http://www.slashdot.org to see what one author is doing about his book being redistributed. // Gregory B. Newby, Assistant Professor in the School of Information // and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill // CB# 3360 Manning Hall, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3360 E: gbnewby@ils.unc.edu // V: 919-962-8064 F: 919-962-8071 W: http://www.ils.unc.edu/gbnewby/