Looking for a Copyright Free Printed Book

[Subtitles]

I need a printed book in English, preferably in hard cover format of several hundred pages, which is copyright free and listed as such.
I don't need it as a digital book eBook to download for free.
Please suggest the title of one or more books. I will buy it if it is available on Amazon or other second hand book shops.
This is for a tutorial to make on YouTube and I don't one to run into copyright issues with YT.
Thanks for all suggestions.

[DB83]

You have just entered a mine-field.

To put it simply, what is copyright-free in one country will not be in another. For example, in the UK copyright automatically exists from publication and exists for 70 years AFTER the death of the author. A publisher might release new versions within that time and still claim copyright since it includes new introductions etc. In the USA, a year of 1924 (probably when such legislation was first made) is quoted but there copyright is renewable.


I suppose, but I am not a lawyer, you would be safe if you found a book published in the early 1900's (or before) - such as early editions of Dickens - and the rarety of such could be cost-prohibitive.


But what you can do is look on the Internet Archive site since that will show publication dates and you can read the same online page by page. Then having found some check for copies on Abebooks (Amazon's online S/H book-sellers source)

[Hunk91]

The Holy Bible ! Lol

[DB83]

Lol back. My previous comments still apply.

[locotus]

Printed editions are rarely copyright free even if the content is.

[usually_quiet]

The Holy Bible ! Lol

Most modern translations are still under copyright.

[Subtitles]

Thanks for all the replies.

Google has a "Fair use on YouTube" page here:
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9783148?hl=en
I think my intended tutorial meets the "Four factors of fair use" mentioned on this page.
I have a book in hard cover and it seems that it is now out of print. I only need to show about 20 pages of the book which is a small percentage of the total 569 pages. Also the price of the book (used) on Amazon UK is £3.47
If I want to be on the safe side, I can consider blurring the text of all the pages of the book shown in the tutorial or put a blank sheet of a paper, but I prefer not to do this.

Another option is to buy a "Public Domain" book.
https://www.shortform.com/best-books/genre/best-public-domain-books-of-all-time
If I buy one of the listed books for example Dracula, can I show several pages of the book without copyright infringement?

[DB83]

Would be interested to know what book you consider acquiring.

Now I originally stated that copyright differs from country to country and that support page echoes this. It seems that those 4 factors apply to US copyright. And if the book you think of buying is fiction rather than non-fiction you fail by factor no 2.


'Public Domain' is, essentially, a US term which means that if earlier copyright was not renewed the work is then PD. But like I said, if another person, other than the original author, has written words in a publication of original text which is not covered by copyright that whole publication suddenly becomes copyrighted. material.


But, maybe, you, as we say, are 'making a mountain out of a mole-hill' or over-reacting unless you have a monetized channel.

[Subtitles]

@DB83 thanks for your reply.
The book title is not important as long as it is hardcover and large enough.
The tutorial is about how to create an eBook out of a printed one. For this I need a book obviously.
I think I will play it safe and replace relevant pages of the book with something interesting that I write.

[DB83]

Gee. If I owned a physical copy of ANY book I would not even attempt to out-source an e-book version.

And in my own line of research I do find sources of e-books but later, if it warrants, I would still acquire the printed version.


There is, practically, no great secret in how to create an e-book from a printed source unless that particular source is rare. Your 'tutorial' actually could encourage copyright-theft since you have no control of how your guide will be used. Allow me to give one example. Some entities in India re-'publish' works they have acquired from on-line sources - I do not intend to encourage this practice by linking to these 'pirates'.


So be careful. Your own perceived good-intentions could land you in a whole bag of trouble. Not in the volume you illustrate but in the general scheme of things.

[Subtitles]

I stopped reading printed books many years ago and I find reading the title as an eBook much easier because I can control the pages size, search words and have a much better navigation experience. Not to mention the weight of of the book when I hold it in my hands.
Looking at the number of free books on Project Gutenberg and their affiliate The Internet Archive and also Google Books and of course Amazon Kindle books, there is a little chance of piracy.
https://gutenberg.org/about/
https://gutenberg.org/about/partners_affiliates.html

Anybody who has access to a printer (usually has a scanner) can scan any book and create an eBook without my help.
Do students worldwide buy books these days or they just take a book from the library and print it, unless some "good guys" have already scanned the books to download by anybody?
I have many books from the days I was a student and I hope that I can find the time to digitize them all.
My intention is to help people who have books at their homes to make a back up in digital format for personal use, just like ripping a CD, DVD or Blu-Ray disks to keep as BU. Is that considered piracy?