Free downloadable books/periodicals with model plans website

[Kevin WS]

Aadil - I have actually found models there I made as a teenage - single channel RC, rubber powered planes, gliders (with dethermalisers) and control line models. Oh and Jetex - the name still conjures up the extreme pain from burns!

[Sakrison]

Every one of these publications carries a copyright notice. And I can't find anything on the site that indicates the publishers have given permission for these magazines to distributed free.

It appears that the site is violating the copyrights of all these publications.
That's piracy.

[rickstef]

David,

This is posted in their FAQ:

What about copyright?

It is our understanding that all the titles listed on this site are out of print 'orphan works' and in the public domain. If you believe otherwise, please contact us. If you hold the copyright of a particular title in RCLibrary and want it removed, let us know.

But i would feel better about it if someone better versed in UK Copyright law could pipe in

[Mike1158]

Random house are the last recorded rights holders in the UK, I had a quite prolonged discourse with them and the conclusion they came up with was that the originator was a one man band with no heirs and in their opinion, the free exchange of knowledge was not something they had an issue with. The sale of pdf items is something they would get a poor return for investment and as the last were sold in the seventies and the originator caved the business in the sixties due to low income, their advice is to use the material for personal use at will.

[RickPink65]

If you are speaking about outerzone.co.uk. This site has being offering model airplane plans and publications with no actual copyright. He has being doing this since 2011 and he has more than 6000 plans to offer, all no longer holding any copyrights. The owners have being extremely careful to avoid legal complications due to copyright issues. That is why he has had his webpage since 2011 and thousands of flying model aircraft enthusiasts, worldwide love it. He also has a lot of magazines and books for free download all of them with no copyright issues. Rest assure.

[RickPink65]

There are another two web pages offering model aircraft plans of all types: They are hippocket aeronautics and aerofred. Check them and you will see they are not pirates, as some of you say. Both have being on the web for several years without breaking any laws.

[Sakrison]

By legal definition, "an orphan work is a copyright protected work for which rightsholders are positively indeterminate or uncontactable." (Wikipedia) This is clearly not the case for many of the books and magazines offered on the RCI Library site.

Even if they were orphaned, UK law makes it clear that permission to publish orphaned works is not automatic, but must be licensed by the UK government, and licenses apply [U]only for use in the UK[/U]. (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/copyright-orphan-works)

US law related to orphans hinges on "fair use" exceptions to copyrights. "Fair use" laws are vague and case law sparse with respect to orphan works, but a 2015 Report by the US Copyright Office notes that federal law has extended copyright protection to a term of 67 years. (https://www.copyright.gov/orphan/rep...-works2015.pdf)

I'm not a lawyer or an expert on copyright law, (I have worked as a legislative analyst.) But it seems clear to me from the sources I've cited that:

First, RCI's statement ("It is our understanding that all the titles listed on this site are out of print 'orphan works' and in the public domain.") appears to equate "orphaned" with "out of print," and to equate both with "public domain." According to the US and UK sources I've cited here, orphan and out-of-print are separate entities and neither one automatically enters the public domain.
and

Second, many of publications on RCI's site are clearly not orphans since the publishers are known and, in many cases, the magazine titles are still in publication today.

I maintain that while RCI might be acting in good faith, it is nonetheless violating copyright laws and pirating the works of a considerable number of known and/or active publishers and copyrightholders, a practice this forum should oppose.

[MichaelS]

My Sweet Lard!!! There goes the rest of my day!!! (Maybe the whole week!)

[MichaelS]

Originally Posted by Sakrison

By legal definition, "an orphan work is a copyright protected work for which rightsholders are positively indeterminate or uncontactable." (Wikipedia) This is clearly not the case for many of the books and magazines offered on the RCI Library site.

Even if they were orphaned, UK law makes it clear that permission to publish orphaned works is not automatic, but must be licensed by the UK government, and licenses apply [U]only for use in the UK[/U]. (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/copyright-orphan-works)

US law related to orphans hinges on "fair use" exceptions to copyrights. "Fair use" laws are vague and case law sparse with respect to orphan works, but a 2015 Report by the US Copyright Office notes that federal law has extended copyright protection to a term of 67 years. (https://www.copyright.gov/orphan/rep...-works2015.pdf)

I'm not a lawyer or an expert on copyright law, (I have worked as a legislative analyst.) But it seems clear to me from the sources I've cited that:

First, RCI's statement ("It is our understanding that all the titles listed on this site are out of print 'orphan works' and in the public domain.") appears to equate "orphaned" with "out of print," and to equate both with "public domain." According to the US and UK sources I've cited here, orphan and out-of-print are separate entities and neither one automatically enters the public domain.
and

Second, many of publications on RCI's site are clearly not orphans since the publishers are known and, in many cases, the magazine titles are still in publication today.

I maintain that while RCI might be acting in good faith, it is nonetheless violating copyright laws and pirating the works of a considerable number of known and/or active publishers and copyrightholders, a practice this forum should oppose.

[/ON Soapbox]
Not even close to being a lawyer (thank Gawd) but i t appears to me that this site makes it very clear if there is an objection to what they have posted they will gladly and quickly remove it.

The Chinese and Russians pirate ALL of the west's modern technology and you are never going to stop them. Worrying about some Popular Mechanics magazines published more than 100 year ago seems a little petty to me.

These magazines, etc. sold by the thousands so it seems to me that the publishers have received a fair compensation for their work.

If this stuff is not published and enjoyed on sites such as this it will all just be forgotten. The original contributors submitted their articles, etc. so that their fellow modelers could enjoy their hobbies more. I seriously doubt if any of them have an objection to continue to share their efforts.

[/OFF Soapbox]

[RickPink65]

Originally Posted by MichaelS

[/ON Soapbox]
Not even close to being a lawyer (thank Gawd) but i t appears to me that this site makes it very clear if there is an objection to what they have posted they will gladly and quickly remove it.

The Chinese and Russians pirate ALL of the west's modern technology and you are never going to stop them. Worrying about some Popular Mechanics magazines published more than 100 year ago seems a little petty to me.

These magazines, etc. sold by the thousands so it seems to me that the publishers have received a fair compensation for their work.

If this stuff is not published and enjoyed on sites such as this it will all just be forgotten. The original contributors submitted their articles, etc. so that their fellow modelers could enjoy their hobbies more. I seriously doubt if any of them have an objection to continue to share their efforts.

[/OFF Soapbox]

I couldn't agree more. Guys, including the PaperModelers owners, lets worry less on piracy and concentrate more on developing the hobby, no matter where the models come from. I am sure, positively sure all of you, including Mr. Rickstef have downloaded pirated models. So less hypocrisy and more concentration on this most fantastic hobby. Don't promote piracy, naturally, but if someone out there on this planet is downloading pirate models sometimes unobtainable elsewhere is not doing any harm to any one and is promoting this wonderful hobby..........sorry, not hobby this is an ART, more than a hobby.
Rick