Where to upload manuals?

[The Natural Philosopher]

I make a habit of scanning in manuals for nearly everything I own, if I can't find them online.

Where is a good place to donate them for the next person?

[Jeff Layman]

I have found

useful. The manuals can be read online or downloaded.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Copyright theft?

[newshound]

I would say that by posting a PDF on the web the owner is placing it in the public domain. Now of course if you stole chunks of it and edited it into a new document, and claimed original authorship, that *would* be copyright theft.

[Roger Hayter]

Illegal copying is not theft. It is by definition illegal, but it is not theft. In the same way that littering is illegal but not theft.

[The Other Mike]

As the saying from decades ago went, home taping is actively reducing the funding of the drug habits of record company executives.

home taping really does make the world a better place.

A vote for manualslib.com and for schematics / service manuals elektrotanya.com.

Scribd.com is also a useful repository albeit with some download restrictions.

--

[Roger Hayter]

There is no such concept as "placing in the public domain" known to English law. They can continue to make whatever further conditions about copying that they wish. Having said that they might not bother in the circumstances. However, the OP seems particularly to refer to printed manuals not otherwise available to download.

[Jeff Layman]

I think it's /just/ possible that Manuals Lib has thought of that (they are based in Hong Kong).

You might like to search for the term "copyright" on their webpage at:

[Andy Burns]

it's a bit of a parasitic site ...

[Theo]

The parasitic download-your-manuals-today-honestly-yes-really-no-dodgy-ads-we-promise.com sites will no doubt clone them, but archive.org will be a sensible repo that should look after them and make them accessible for the long term.

Theo

[The Natural Philosopher]

Thanks. I discovered that and manual was uploaded

[Steve Walker]

And while copyright does apply, why would any manufacturer want to prevent someone making copies available? One comes with each item sold and they are of no use to anyone without the item. You could almost consider the item itself a licence to have a copy of the manual.

Someone making copies available will tend to reduce the number of requests that the manufacturer receives too.

SteveW

[Steve Walker]

I always considered that home taping provided free advertising. I have many hundreds of CDs, large numbers of which I would never have purchased if I hadn't been introduced to the groups concerned by receiving tapes from friends.

SteveW

[Pamela]

This site would be pleased to have your manuals.

https://booksc.xyz/book-add.php

[Fredxx]

Some years ago there was a study of illicit recording/copying and purchasing an original. What they found was that people who did the most copying also did the most buying of legitimate material.

[Roger Hayter]

Some, especially consumer, manufacturers still try to operate the traditional model of making a profit out of the sales of repair manuals. Certainly the car companies still do this. It was not many decades ago that TV manuals were so profitable that a whole publishing industry grew up second sourcing repair information. Although the IT industry has no such tradition I would not be too sure in the case of domestic appliances.

[Steve Walker]

Car maintenance manuals are perhaps a little different, but most consumer goods are provided with a manual and people just lose them.

SteveW

[The Natural Philosopher]

These days in general the manufacturer will put a copy online anyway. It is a very useful way to assess a product - read the manual BEFORE you buy.

[The Natural Philosopher]

It's only a user manual. Free with every piece of kit. If you need one it's because you have the piece of kit and have lost the manual

[The Natural Philosopher]

I scanned one in and blew it up twice size to I could read the f****ng thing.

It was for a large button 'age friendly' mobile phone

So they did the manual in 6 point. Natch.