Legality of sending/ posting service manuals

[Joebklyn]

Is it legal to send someone for free, the factory service manual of the 3.0 Mercrusier engine.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Legality of sending/ posting service manuals

Is this manual copyrighted material?

 

[Randybeall]

Re: Legality of sending/ posting service manuals

It is perfectly alright to give someone else a service manual you own. It is not alright to make a copy and send to them or to make a copy and send the orignal to them. Copyright laws also prohibit copying some part of the manual and publishing it to the web or e-mailing it. Some body worked hard and invested their time and knowledge to make that work, it should be paid for if someone else makes use of that work.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Legality of sending/ posting service manuals

Randy is correct, but it is done all the time, we do not condon it in anyway, but i still will post a diagram occasionally, in order to make a point.

 

[marine4003]

Re: Legality of sending/ posting service manuals

It also depends on whether or not its available for free from the manufacturer...i lost my Sitex manual..went on line and retrieved it from Sitex. Try that with Music or Software and there'll be 50 lawyers beating down the door.

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Legality of sending/ posting service manuals

I haven't checked copyright regs in awhile, but I believe you can share info from such without penalty...as long as you aren't profiting from it. Also depends on whether the copyright for a particular piece of info is still in effect...if it has expired and passed into the public domain, it's open info for all. At least that's how I understand it.

 

[jennis9]

Re: Legality of sending/ posting service manuals

Ownership of intellectual property is a confusing issue. That's why they made it easy with that little circle c... ? (and the ? and the ?). If you see those, it belongs to someone legally - they own it.

If in doubt, CYA... In reproducing any form of a publication, give credit to the source if a portion of the work that is reproduced. Researchers reproduce each others ideas and footnote the author of the fact/concept - even if unknown.

On this forum and others, there is a lot of sharing of information that is not for personal gain/profit -- mostly sharing a portion of one's own experience along with a diagram -- not plagerizing an author/source's work. That is not illegal.

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#hlc

 

[marquette]

Re: Legality of sending/ posting service manuals

in my business copying a manufactures manual is a BIG no-no. that being said we have a library that most of the manufacturers contribute to and if you are a paying member of the library you can download and print manuals for your own shop use. but you cannot sell or give away one of those copies.
if you purchase a manual from the manufacturer you can then sell that specfic manual to someone else but not a copy of it. the copywright laws on repair manuals are very specfic and strict. TD is right in that i have never seen a manufacture say anything about copying a page or diagram to express a point or used to order parts. we spent about $50,000 in legal fees to set up the library to protect the manufactures copywrights and members from copyright infringement. all that being said there are more copies of bootlegged outboard manuals on EBAY than you can shake a stick at, so maybe they aren't as concerned about copying as other industries.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Legality of sending/ posting service manuals

Is it legal to send someone for free, the factory service manual of the 3.0 Mercrusier engine.

Ayuh,....

Lets See,..??

Here's the 85 to 89 manual,...
And,...
Here's the 90 to 97 manual,...

 

[NelsonQ]

Re: Legality of sending/ posting service manuals

Too bad Evinrude/Johnson didn't do the same

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: Legality of sending/ posting service manuals

Regardless of if someone else has done it, or published it before, unless YOU have written permission from the copywrite owner, you may not disseminate copyrighted materials. It has nothing to do with you making a profit or not. That is simply the legal answer.
Even IF a manufacturer of a product offers service manuals for free on THEIR website, you DO NOT have the right to copy those pages and repost them or distribute them ( if any page or the website has the familiar C with a circle around it). You may, however provide a link to THEIR website.
With all of that said, most people break one law or another on a daily basis. If you have ever driven 70 MPH in a 65 zone....you broke the law. Some "transgressions" are more tolerated than others.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Legality of sending/ posting service manuals

A little side bar that might help posters out:

Alt + 0169 ----> ?
Alt + 0174 ----> ?

If this doesn't work on your computer you can go to start -> programs -> accessories -> system tools -> character map. (in vista, xp might be slightly different)
Here you will find many characters and symbols that are included in your font but have no key for them on the keyboard.
Hope this helps people out!!