Don wrote:
>Hi Jim
>
>Gee, I get the feeling you don't like our CD-ROMs!
Not at all. They are an inexpensive way for some to obtain the
manuals they need. They do have many drawbacks compared to manuals that
actually exist, ie. paper manuals.
A paper manual only needs a pair (or only one) of eyes to use. A
CD-ROM manual requires a mechanical/electrical device to obtain the
information from it. Without a computer or a source of electricity it is
nothing more than a coaster. With a paper manual, you can have it right
there next to you while you work on the vehicle. With a CD, you must
balance a laptop or print out the pages you need. This then brings in yet
another mechanical/electrical device necessary to retrieve the information
so it may be used at the point of work. When you drive your vehicle, a
paper manual is easy to bring with you so that if the information is needed
it will be right at hand. To use the CD manual on the road you must have a
computer along with you or print out the entire manual before you drive
away. Rip a page out of a paper manual or get it greasy and it can still
be used. Put a scratch or gouge in a CD manual and it may become useless.
The greatest advantage the CD manual has over the paper one is the
space savings that the CD offers. As I stated, all the various sections of
the -209-10/1/2/3/4/-20/1/2....et al series for the M-35-A2 stack up over
three feet tall while a CD containing the same uses about a millimeter of
space. A parts list manual on CD is very nice as it is possible to quickly
print out the page with the part you need and send it along with your order
to make sure you will get the right item.
One of the biggest disadvantages of the manual on CD (for the maker
that is) is that people can burn off copies and give (or sell) them to
others with out compensating the publisher of the original CD. This is
done all the time and I have even seen rip offs of your CD's (and others)
for sale at various events.
>Lets try and put this to rest in one attempt.
>
>Statement: There are no govt copyrighted manuals.
I will state that I am not a copyright lawyer, however I do pay
one to advise me!
I produce many books and pamphlets in other areas that I deal in
(mostly railroad) and get advice from him on copyright issues that are from
commercial sources ones as well as Government ones.
>.......Answer: FALSE--There are dozens of Military Manuals that are
>copyrighted
>in full ( ie: the Military Drafting Manual) and many manuals that have
>copyrighted sections (look at the engineering section on the govt manual
>website)...........
Hold on. Are these manuals WRITTEN and PRODUCED by the
Government? Or are you talking about manuals or sections that are written
by outside business concerns and used by the Government? There is a big
difference between the two. Who holds the copyright? Is it the Government
or someone outside the Government? My original comment was about manuals
produced for or by the Government under contract. Examples of this would be
the WW II jeep (GPW and MB) manuals produced by or for the GPO. I stated
that there were no Government copyrighted manuals and this means that
there is no Government copyright to them (ie. the Government does not hold
the copyright to a manual it has produced).
The early manuals for the GP (for example) were copyrighted by the
Ford Motor Co. and provided to the Government along with the
vehicles. Although these manuals were copyrighted they may now be copied
by anyone as they have passed the old copyright law's 40 year rule. In
fact, I have a letter from Ford Motor Co attesting to this.
Of course my attorney could be wrong and there is a manual that was
produced and/or written by the US Government itself that the Government
holds the copyright to. If you actually know of or have one I would be
very interested to see it.
>Statement: The copyright label on the CDs are just a scam......
Let me make it clear that I mentioned no one in particular in that
statement. It was not directed at anyone specific but it is correct in many
cases and not only in the military vehicle area.
>Answer: FALSE--It is not the specific manuals on our CDs that are
>copyrighted,
>but our presentation. Our name and other data is included on every CD,
>so if
>you copy our files, you copy our name and other information with out our
>permission. That would violate the copyright.
Humm........Is that what it says on your copyright statement? Does
it say that the manuals and the information contained in them is public
domain and no copyright exist for them? Or that the copyright warning
covers all additional data not contained in the manuals but on the
CD-ROM? Of course you know that you do not have the copyright on the
manuals contained in the CD but I don't think it is mentioned in the
warning is it?
Now, I'm playing Devil's advocate here. I'm not accusing you of
anything improper. You are correct that all data added by you falls under a
blanket copyright and you are the holder of it (if you wrote it). You have
a copyright notice added to protect your investment in the CD's and it is
hoped that the notice will keep some from copying the disk.
I have seen other individuals offer copies of manuals on CD-ROM
that were just copies of the ones produced by the Government. On these
rip-off copies was a large copyright warning indicating that the seller
held the copyrights !!! Of course that was just a scam to keep others
from doing the exact thing that they did and selling their copies.
Now, in closing let me state...... I'm not picking on Don or his CD's.
He provides a good product at a fair price and the hobby is well served by
this.
.........And don't you guys go burning off copies of his CD's with
out paying for them! If this is done to much he may decide not to produce
any more and that would be a loss to the hobby.
Jim Gilmore MVPA # 5843
Member Ist Michigan AOD Chapter MVPA
Great Lakes Chapter MVPA
Ohio Motor Pool Chapter MVPA
Red Ball Chapter MVPA
Ontario Military Vehicle Association
Midwest Military Vehicle Assocation
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