Getting PDFs Printed and Bound Online

[Nikosandros]

However, as I stated above, I do feel that the US copyright laws should be more clear on the subject of purchased ebooks that are printed only for personal use.

Indeed. It would be very reasonable to allow the purchaser of a PDF to print a single copy of it. Prohibitions or restrictions against that seriously undermine the attractiveness of PDFs, at least to me.

 

[trancejeremy]

I'm not a lawyer, but I think it spells it out pretty clearly here that you should only post content for which you own the copyright, or the right to extend that copyright to others, because Lulu reserves the right to use your material for marketing purposes. If you can't authorize the use of that material to Lulu for marketing purposes, I would think that you probably shouldn't post it. If nothing else, the last paragraph seems to indicate that you doing so would probably come into conflict with the agreement between you and the original creator of the PDF material you've purchased.

Yeah, but if you set it to "Private", they don't use it for marketing (according to the last line of this).

By posting your Content on the site, you grant that Lulu, in service to the creator may excerpt your Content, excluding any Personal Data that may have been included, for use in marketing materials, and Lulu may make minor modifications to the Content for technical reasons. Of course, Lulu will credit you and/or the original artist, and we will usually ask you first. You further agree that Lulu may make minor modifications to the Content for technical reasons. We will not feature Content that you have marked "Direct Access" or "Available only to me."

Still a little dangerous, because if you accident set the permissions to public, you could get sued. But if there aren't any other options, sounds doable.

 

[Kesh]

If I find out that I cannot print and bind a PDF whenever, and however often, I wish to, for myself, then I will quit buying PDF's. Being able to do so is why I buy them in the first place.

Is there an "overall law" that covers this issue? Or is it a publisher by publisher policy?

It's not even a publisher policy, it's the print companies. They don't want to risk getting sued for "aiding piracy" so they just outright refuse to print & bind anything you can't prove you created & hold copyright on. It's legal butt-covering, and it's a pain in said butt. Because of that, even if you own the rights to the document (purchased & watermarked) you might find it impossible to get professionally printed.

Personally, this is one reason I'm looking at a decent personal laser printer and a cheap binding machine.

 

[Flynn]

That's pretty interesting. I'm not endorsing the idea that people should print material if they do not have permission or they do not own the copyright--regardless of how easy it is to do through Lulu. I suppose it boils down to what their conscious tells them.

Aren't all laws like that, though? At least, that's what my Chaotic Neutral friends tend to say.

I hope that the quote I gave you answered your question in regards to where I felt Lulu.com prohibits "just for me" printing of PDFs for which you didn't own the copyright. As you say, in the long run it boils down to what people's conscious tells them. Barring that, I guess it depends on what a good lawyer tells them.

With Regards,
Flynn

 

[Mean Eyed Cat]

I hope that the quote I gave you answered your question in regards to where I felt Lulu.com prohibits "just for me" printing of PDFs for which you didn't own the copyright. As you say, in the long run it boils down to what people's conscious tells them. Barring that, I guess it depends on what a good lawyer tells them.

Yes it answered my question--thanks. The crazy thing about it all is that, "legally", you are breaking the law by printing out a copy of a pdf [that you don't own the copyright to] on your personal printer.

 

[Tetsubo]

The PDF that I want to print and bind was a free document from the Athas.org site. A conversion of some old 2E material dealing with Lifeshaping (biotech). How do I "prove" to a print shop that it isn't "stolen". To many people the idea that free online = stolen isn't hard to swallow.

Here's the real irony, I own all of the 2E material that was used in the document. I paid for it back when it first came out. I just want to be able to hold the conversion in my hands to read. And doing double sided copies on my home printer would be a nightmare.

I have contacted the people who run Print Fu. I'm hoping they will once again be taking orders. I have also contacted the team of gamers that did the conversion. They are in Brazil however, so getting written permission to make a personal use copy may be difficult.

I want ONE copy. I am not seeking to make a profit off of this copy. this whole episode has really frustrated me to no end... I don't want to pay an arm and a leg to get this copy either. Staples will do it for $9.50, but Kinko's wants $17... for the same thing... If I can only get Staples to understand that I am not ripping anyone off...

 

[SavageRobby]

Indeed. It would be very reasonable to allow the purchaser of a PDF to print a single copy of it. Prohibitions or restrictions against that seriously undermine the attractiveness of PDFs, at least to me.

Some companies - Pinnacle Inc (makers of Savage Worlds) for example - explicitly put a statement to this effect on the cover page of their PDFs. For example, "This file may be printed for personal use. Do not distribute."

 

[Mean Eyed Cat]

I want ONE copy. I am not seeking to make a profit off of this copy. this whole episode has really frustrated me to no end... I don't want to pay an arm and a leg to get this copy either. Staples will do it for $9.50, but Kinko's wants $17... for the same thing... If I can only get Staples to understand that I am not ripping anyone off...

I'm sorry Tetsubo. I hope you're able to work things out.

You know the whole ironic thing about this. I just purchased a RPG pdf today. After I downloaded it, I opened the file and inside was two pdfs. One was for "For Screen Reading" and the other was for "For Home Printing." So basically, I have this company telling me "yeah, it's okay to print out a copy of our product even though you don't own the copyright." So, are they giving me permission? And how do I prove I have permission to a printing company like Staples or Lulu? [Also echoed in Tetsubo's frustration].

And not to beat a dead horse, but here's the real quandary in this situation. Is there really a difference between "home printing" and using a company to print out a pdf just for personal use? Copyright laws tell us that reproduction of works not owned or without permission is illegal. In both instances, a person is making a "copy" of an electronic document.

I think I'm done with the subject. Like Tetsubo, I find the whole thing confounding.