[UFO Chicago] question about posting public domain works

[Jordan Bettis]

"Eric Pement" <pemente at northpark.edu> writes:

> I understand that copyright can be asserted for the new arrangement 
> and presentation of earlier works. But when plaintext or HTML 
> attempts to mimic the presentation (chapter division, paragraphing, 
> sentence sequence, italics, boldface, etc.) of the ORIGINAL SOURCE 
> document, then I don't think the "new arrangement and presentation" 
> argument for new copyright should successfully obtain.  

There can be copyrights on the "typesetting" of a document. I think in
this circumstance, that may apply, where the scanning by them could
constitute a new typesetting.

I think there might be a lawyer lurking around here somewhere who'd be
willing to answer a pro-bono question...

PS: Check the gutenberg project. They put out-of-copyright books
online for the purpose of free redistribution. They may have already
digitized the books you're talking about.

-- 
Jordan Bettis <http://www.hafd.org/~jordanb>
Repartee is something we think of twenty-four hours too late.
        -- Mark Twain