bialecki said:
No but their lawyers will, its called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Essentially you can not copy, photocopy or electronically copy any published works. So all manuals created by a corporation or an individual are copyrighted. If they (a corporation) want to they can create a world of hurt on an individual. This is no different that people downloading illegal music from a web site. Actually if TBN knows about this link through their site they too can be liable. In today's day and age you need to respect the author/ owner of any published works, books, photos, music, etc and pay for the material.
To read about it here is a link to the aforementioned.
http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf
You are correct when pertaining to digital documents which clearly print copyright notice within and or also use encryption, but Kubota and many other manufactures publish documents in digital and print formats which are not copyrighted and can be freely distributed. You can find the same documents for sale in both formats but typically the printed version is sold because of the service and since the digital is a simple download it is offered mostly free.
I have reviewed all of my Kubota and Land Pride manuals, none of which indicated any copyrights. So I would believe these documents in question are not copyright material and can be freely distributed.
As for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act found at that the following link:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=105_cong_bills&docid=f:h2281enr.txt.pdf
This document covers the Circumvention of copyright protection systems and the exemptions as follows:
�(c) OTHER RIGHTS, ETC., NOT AFFECTED.?1) Nothing in this
section shall affect rights, remedies, limitations, or defenses to
copyright infringement, including fair use, under this title.
�(2) Nothing in this section shall enlarge or diminish vicarious
�(d) EXEMPTION FOR NONPROFIT LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES, AND EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS.?1) A nonprofit library, archives, or educational
institution which gains access to a commercially exploited
copyrighted work solely in order to make a good faith determination
of whether to acquire a copy of that work for the sole purpose
of engaging in conduct permitted under this title shall not be
in violation of subsection
è�˜(3) FACTORS IN DETERMINING EXEMPTION.æ‚*n determining
whether a person qualifies for the exemption under paragraph
(2), the factors to be considered shall include
�(A) whether the information derived from the
research was disseminated, and if so, whether
it was disseminated in a manner reasonably calculated
to advance the state of knowledge or development of
encryption technology, versus whether it was disseminated
in a manner that facilitates infringement under this title
or a violation of applicable law other than this section,
including a violation of privacy or breach of security;
�(B) whether the person is engaged in a legitimate
course of study, is employed, or is appropriately trained
or experienced, in the field of encryption technology; and
�(C) whether the person provides the copyright owner
of the work to which the technological measure is applied
with notice of the findings and documentation of the
research, and the time when such notice is provided.
�(4) USE OF TECHNOLOGICAL MEANS FOR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)(2), it
is not a violation of that subsection for a person to
�(A) develop and employ technological means to circumvent
a technological measure for the sole purpose of
that person performing the acts of good faith encryption
research described in paragraph (2); and
�(B) provide the technological means to another person
with whom he or she is working collaboratively for the
purpose of conducting the acts of good faith encryption
research described in paragraph (2) or for the purpose
of having that other person verify his or her acts of good
faith encryption research described in paragraph (2).
