On 14 May 2005 04:04:02 -0700, "No One You Know"
wrote:

One way to stop these thieves is to have the BAMA site print on every
page in bold letters "THIS MANUAL IS FROM THE BAMA MANUAL ARCHIVE" or
some other wording. This placed on the front cover and table of
contents might at least slow down the stupid thieves.

Any other legal ideas?

Technically and legally, making a scan and uploading it doesn't
transfer any rights. "Thanks" to Disney, copyright can go back as
early as 1926. Some manuals may be old enough to be in the public
domain (I forget all the rules, but if it's more recent than 1925 you
should check), and a company having gone out of business does not
automatically make the manuals public domain (though it may reduce the
chance of there being anyone to sue you for infringement.
There was a recent thread on sci.electronics.design on copying of
older HP and Tektronix manuals, and of the companies still holding
copyright. Someone got a clarification from one of those companies (I
forget which) that manuals can be scanned and put on CDR's and traded
'at cost', but not made available for download on the Internet.
Whoever runs BAMA may want to read that thread to see what they might
have for download that the company might go after them for.

But I can understand the feelings against these ebay profiteers.

If you want to put them out of business (and presuming the specific
manuals being offered are public domain or permission is granted from
the copyright holders), sell them yourself on ebay for $1 or $2 each
or whatever copying and postage costs you. A fully loaded CDR should
be about $2 or $3 postpaid, and a printout of a scan at whatever it
costs, maybe postage plus 20 cents a page (whatever it costs to print
with those inkjet cartridges that are 2/3rds the price of a new inkjet
printer).

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http://mindspring.com/~benbradley