Can I reproduce out of print books?

[Greg Newby]

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 at ils.unc.edu
// V: 919-962-8064 F: 919-962-8071  W: http://www.ils.unc.edu/gbnewby/