Does anybody know something about copyright in relation to aircraft manuals ??If I know somebody having (for instance) a Cessna 337H and with his permission I made a photocopy of this manaul and created a PDF-file.In this situation I guess I would not violate copyright by uploading the manual to my website so other flightsimmers could download it ??There are companies that buys manuals from pilots - make a copy - and sell the pdf-files on-line. Essco Aircraft is an example. Apparently they are allowed to make money ou of the different aircraft company's manuals!! On the other hand, when I buy a manual from Essco Aircraft their website tells me that delivering digital copies for other people is a violation of Essco's copyright. The only "original" thing they have done is to place the pages in such an order that it is possible to print the pages in duplex in A5-format.Please give the forum your feedback on this subject.

I think one of the key items is whether you are making a profit and whether it is for commercial use. The age old 'personal copy' and 'archive backup copy' have held up in most courts as there is no gain from any party nor loss.I know there are many pdf copies of many owners manuals out there on the web. i haven't see a free download for a 337 yet but they will eventually show up.Ray

Does anybody know something about copyright in relation to aircraft manuals ??If I know somebody having (for instance) a Cessna 337H and with his permission I made a photocopy of this manaul and created a PDF-file.In this situation I guess I would not violate copyright by uploading the manual to my website so other flightsimmers could download it ??There are companies that buys manuals from pilots - make a copy - and sell the pdf-files on-line. Essco Aircraft is an example. Apparently they are allowed to make money ou of the different aircraft company's manuals!! On the other hand, when I buy a manual from Essco Aircraft their website tells me that delivering digital copies for other people is a violation of Essco's copyright. The only "original" thing they have done is to place the pages in such an order that it is possible to print the pages in duplex in A5-format.Please give the forum your feedback on this subject.

If I understand your post, you are asking whether a person or company can sell a product that is copyrighted by a third company. In this instance you are asking whether this company can claim copyright on another company's work. The answer is no. In other words, I cannot claim copyright on Cessna manuals, even if I sold them to you or provided them to you free of charge. You are in your rights to do anything you want with those manuals, IF YOU HAVE PERMISSION FROM CESSNA TO DO SO. I would also guess that Cessna would be very suprised to find that manuals are being sold by a non-distributor of Cessna. So, if you get permission from Cessna to do so, a third company has nothing to say about the matter. If they have altered the material in some way, they may have copyright on that bit, as long as it qualifies for copyright status. Rearranging pages does not qualify, as far as I can tell.Keep in mind that I am not a copyright specialist nor am I a lawyer. So, be careful interpreting the above without legal council.

Most modern documents contain a legal page or two regarding the copyright status within the first few pages of the document, detailing what is and isn't condoned by them. For example, the FCOMv1 for my PMDG 737NGX has the following on page 2:

Copyright InformationBoeing claims copyright in each page of this document only to the extent that thepage contains copyrightable subject matter. Boeing also claims copyright in thisdocument as a compilation and/or collective work.The right to reproduce, distribute, display, and make derivative works from thisdocument, or any portion thereof, requires a license from Boeing. For moreinformation, contact The Boeing Company, P.O. Box 3707, Seattle, Washington98124.Boeing, the Boeing signature, the Boeing logo, 707, 717, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767,777, 787, BBJ, DC-8, DC-9, DC-10, MD-10, MD-11, MD-80, MD-88 and MD-90and the Boeing livery are all trademarks of The Boeing Company. No trademarklicense is granted in connection with this document unless provided in writing byBoeing.

Some older documents may not have this information for a variety of reasons, but if in doubt I would highly suggest you try and find the original publisher and gain permission to upload anything of theirs. It's the polite thing to do and it's always good to be able to say you have officially got permission to do this.

I mailed Cessna the other day hoping to get an answer on this matter.When I purchase an aircraft for FSX I like to get hands on the original manual (POH, PIM, Owners Manual etc). I know it is possible to download many manuals on the internet. But now and then it is not possible to find the manual for a given aircraft. It could be great if we could buy manuals and - without fear of a trial - upload these on some kind of "FSX-Manuals" website so everyone from the flightsim community culd use these manuals.Right now I would not dare to distribute the few manuals I have purchased in the last years. If I get a response from Cessna I'l be back here with further information.Lars - DK

Dear Sir,Just a question about the old manuals (POH, PIM etc) for your aircrafts. Sometimes I find a POH for download on the internet. I am using it only for Flight Simulation with FSX. Are these old manuals copyrighted somehow? I know some companies are selling your old manuals as downloadable PDF-files. Are they allowed to do that?Best RegardsLars FrederiksenDenmarkI got this answer from Cessna:"There was a period of time back in the 1970s and 80s when Cessna did not put copyright notices on our publications (POHs, IMs, Maintenance Manuals, etc.). For these years, the manuals are not copyright protected and we cannot prevent them being reproduced, etc. Just FYI, copyright law no longer requires that the copyright notice be placed on documents, but it is a best practice to do so, and we do place them on all our publications now. Assuming you are using one of these non-copyright protected manuals, it would be legal to download it. If you are using it for anything other than simulated flight, we would, of course, recommend that you only use the most current version of the manual."I guess this is a fair interpretation of the answer:Nobody can have the copyright to a manual except the producer of the aircraft and regarding the old aircrafts from Cessna from the 1970s and 80s, Cessna does not declare any copyriht. The "second hand" dealer of digital manualt might declare a copyright bu this copyright can - in my opinion - only cover the way in which the manual is published (order of pages etc) and not the contents of the manual itself.Lars

Lars,Hang on just a few more days. Something good is in the works.Ray

Something good?

Something good?

Lots of performance data charts and graphs here. http://www.avsim.com/pages/1111/Carenado/337.htmlRay

Thank's a lot Ray - fine review!

One of the best and most informative reviews I've read - thank yo indeed