Inquiry Into Copying Suttas & Writings

[Jhana4]

An ongoing problem with the sutta discussions I take part in is in getting a copy of the material to everyone. We have some books we agree to try to draw things from so people don't have to buy new books, pay a lot of money for photocopies or increase their eco footprint in making one-use printouts.

I have started buying Bodhi's and Wisdom's hard copy translations. Photocopies are much cheaper that paying for print outs ( even if you only print out 1 copy and then photocopy).

The next step for me in reducing costs is to get my own printer.

My group really likes using Bodhi's translations.

I was thinking of getting a scanner to get the selections we might read into electronic form that can then be reproduced cheaply via a computer printer.

As long as I am just printing isolated sections, does Fair Use still apply and is this legal?

Assuming it is legal, has home scanners/scanning gotten cheap, practical and good?

My computer runs on Ubuntu Linux, will this restrict my options in any way.

Any recommendations for printers and scanners? What sort of costs should I be expected to pay?

[santa100]

How about distributing just "soft" copies from online resources or scanned material? That'll save lots of trees..

[Jhana4]

How about distributing just "soft" copies from online resources or scanned material? That'll save lots of trees..

Until recently Bhikku Bodhi's translations haven't been available in electronic form and are still not available in cheaply in electronic form. Our discussion group has many drop in participants. That and the price of ebook readers makes us uncomfortable requiring such things. Most of us do not like ebook readers.

As an aside, as far as I know most of the electricity in the United States comes from coal, so it isn't my personal belief that they are more green from using paper( trees can be regrown, quality paper can be made from other plants and even waste materials ). I've read a number of articles that old computers have toxic elements in them and often get sent to 3rd countries where poor children get paid to take them apart for "recycling".

That is aside......which I don't want this thread to get hijacked for.

If you would like to talk about the environmental, intellectual and other costs of e-book readers please feel free to start your own thread. I will jump in and participate.

If anyone has information in regards to my original questions please feel free to post in this thread.

[Tex]

As long as I am just printing isolated sections, does Fair Use still apply and is this legal?

My understanding of fair use is that it applies as long as you do not quote the entire document and you reference the original source. Per this link, it's apparently a bit of a gray area: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html.

While I don't think Bhikkhu Bodhi or Wisdom Publications will come after you for trying in good faith to spread Bodhi's translations, if you're concerned about it, write him/them and ask for permission.

As for printers and scanners, you can get them combined into one machine now, usually with copying and faxing capabilities too.

Here's one for about $40 from a decent name brand: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... gMethod=rr

Note: I don't own this product, so I'm not endorsing it - you might want to go through the consumer reviews for this and similar products to see if it might be worth it to spend a little more on a better machine, etc.

Good luck!

[Jhana4]

It is not only amazing that you can get them combined into one machine now but also that they are under $100!! Wow.