(ET) manuals on CD?

["Pieter Litchfield" <plitch attglobal net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Pieter Litchfield [mailto:plitch attglobal net]
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 8:39 AM
To: David Roden (Akron OH USA)
Subject: RE: (ET) E15 on Ebay, a helping hand


I've taken a careful look at my copy of the "home owner's service manual"
part OPS-74-4035, and find no copyright notice or mark.  Since copyright
requires notice in much the same way that property posting requires proper
signs (at least where I live), I don't think there is much of a case that
the copyright, if any, could be easily protected.

That being said, I did spend some time exploring the idea of reproducing
manuals with Bill Gunn - I wouldn't do anything to cut into his trade, and
suggested to him, in writing, that if anything was scanned into PDF format
(or any other) on CDROM I would work out a deal that protected his
investment/business (for example - making him the exclusive agent for such
publications).  We also had a long phone conversation (thanks Bill!), but
nothing was really concluded.

Technically this is not a killer concept.  However, the question of
economics is problematic - is there any demand for manuals on CD?  Or at
least enough to warrant the effort.  Making individual CD's from a master 
is
very cheap (10 minutes and $1.00 in materials), but the time investment in
scanning and indexing hundreds of pages could be prohibitive unless there 
is
enough demand to defray the labor cost.  I'm guessing a few hundred copies
at least would be needed to get anyone really interested in doing it, even
at minimum wage rates.

As with a previous post, I'd suggest that the above mentioned "home owners
service manual" or a dealer shop manual (do they exist?) covering all 
models
plus the Peerless transaxle manual would be helpful.  I also found a
wheelhorse-GE parts number cross-reference list.  I'm sure there's more of
interest.

Why GE never bothered to copyright the home owners manual is surprising to
me, but as a group I think we all seem to agree that we need to support the
cause of keeping ETs alive and well by acting responsibly in supporting our
parts guy!


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
[mailto:owner-elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu]On Behalf Of David Roden
(Akron OH USA)
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 2:38 AM
To: <Elec-trak
Subject: Re: (ET) E15 on Ebay, a helping hand


On 22 Jan 2001, at 16:17, jim wrote:

> Somewhere
> along the line the PDF idea sounds
> great especially available on the net.

Careful.  I think Bill Gunn owns the copyrights to the manuals.  Putting
them up on the net (or anywhere) without his permission could net you a
call from an attorney, or worse.


David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
1991 Solectria Force 144vac
1991 Ford Escort Green/EV 128vdc
1979 General Engines ElectroPed 24vdc
1974 Honda Civic EV 96vdc
1970 GE Elec-trak E15 36vdc
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