Subject: | |
From: | |
Reply To: | |
Date: | Sat, 27 Dec 2003 21:29:22 -0600 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
From: "Jim Stevenson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2003 12:51 PM
> Under what condissions is it legal for blind readers to exchange
scanned books?
**As individuals, none. However, the individual could establish a
non-profit with a particular sanctioned purpose and it would be legal.
> Are such laws really inforced if it is strictly for individual use?
**No, not at all. The issue is that the copyright law exemption applies
to organizations not individuals. However, if one blind person shares a
scanned or recorded book with another blind person it would be folly to
sue the individual for a copyright violation. If it was a scanned book,
the court would likely recognize the lack of direct access as well as the
fact that the copyright holder was not damaged. If the copyright holder
is a major book publisher, the publicity and protest surrounding the
lawsuit of a blind person who transmitted a single scanned book to
another single blind individual would be something they would not want.
> Are there data bases of scanned books?
**Yes, there is the bookshare.org service.
> What are the best ocr programs for complex mathematical notation?
**Screen readers do not natively handle mathamatical symbols. After a
math-related book has been scanned, it usually needs to be processed and
used with a math-related program for the blind, such as Triangle
discussed earlier in this space.
Kelly
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
|
|
|