POH/manuals and copyright

[gullu]

Hi,

 

I´ve seen some places in the internet, where the POH and parts-manuals of various Mooney models are sold as a CD/DVD, as a download on a website or as a printed copy.

 

So I wondered if this is legal. I would have thought, that those copyrights belong to Mooney themselves and must not be copied or distributed by any third party.

 

Do you have any information about if it is allowed to publish and distribute all of these manuals?

 

Thanks

G.

[midlifeflyer]

The manuals are subject to copyright protection. The "author" (manufacturer) has the right to control distribution and publication, including authorizing others to do so. Whether a specific distribution or publication is illegal, I can't say.

[Marauder]

I remember buying mine (hard copy) through a Mooney MSC. I would be surprised if they are not copyright protected.

[N601RX]

I agree.  I have soft copies of every manual for the plane, engine and all accessories on my Ipad.  That way I'm never without them.

[OR75]

the manuals circulated around do not have " copyright" on them. so i am guessing it is not copy righted. ( i am not a property rights lawyer ! just used to seeing the copyright word when documents are indeed copyrighted)

on the other hand, a valid maintenance manual needs to be current. it needs to have the latest revisions. the copies circulated around are not tracked ( could be considered invalid by an FAA inspector)

[fantom]

I have a 'valid' maintenance manual purchased from Mooney ($200) 15 years ago. I can't recall the last time I got an update, but it had to be at least a decade ago.

 

I also have soft copes of the maintenance, parts, and POH manuals. given away by Mooney about 6 years ago as a one-time good deal, which it was.

[midlifeflyer]

the manuals circulated around do not have " copyright" on them. so i am guessing it is not copy righted. ( i am not a property rights lawyer ! just used to seeing the copyright word when documents are indeed copyrighted)

 

 

 

It's the act of authorship that creates the copyright, not the notice and not the recording of the material in the Copyright Office. The notice (in theory) prevents someone form claiming infringement was unintentional; the filing gains the author procedural benefits, but neither creates the copyright.

 

 

How or whether  the various companies that have produced Mooney aircraft chose to enforce their copyrights is another question. Other manufacturers have included the noticed and done the filing

 

Here's the notice from the POH for a 1979 Cessna TR182.

 

And a link to Cessna copyright filings with the US Copyright Office:

 

Edit: the link times out so it can't be viewed directly; there appear to be about 160 filings.

[Joe Zuffoletto]

About a year ago I requested written permission from Mooney to have my POH scanned to a PDF file for use on my computer and iPad. Permission was granted within a week. My printer, who is an ethical person, wouldn't do the work without the release.