UK copyright laws - I need advice.

I have a book printed in the UK, in 1921, this book is somewhat rare these days and I have been asked to create a copy of it. It only has Historical value. Would it be ok to scan the content and give it away for free on a CD-ROM? What if I republish the book on a website.

The book in question is "Admirality manual of navigation", 1922, and it is under a "Crown copyright".

I have visited the "Her Majesty's Stationery Office" web site,
but I can not figure out the answer to my question, the right body to contact, nor anything at all.

Thank you for any and all answers.

My understanding is that generally, copyright expires in literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies.

For crown copyright this page looks like it might help: http://www.mda.org.uk/mcopyg/crown-a.pdf

and:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Copyright

Regards, S

Hi,

Thank you a million.

The copyright protection for this book expired in 1972, since crown copyright expires 50 years after publication.

I will make a web site of this book, so all interested in naval history has access to it.


Thank you Spartan

Now I need to find a good book DTD, any ideas?

No problem. Not sure about the DTD but you might have some joy with the print on demand publishers, some of them specialise in old/out of copyright books.

Regards, S

Hi,

Print on demand?

Good idea :-) maybe I could print some books as gifts to my friends with an interest in this area.