Would this violate Ebay policy to sell?

[daemontech]

Going off another post I have I then wanted to ask this people here:

I have a book/pamphlet created by the US Gov in 1946 on Guiding Your Youth.
Now I could sell this paper copy and that's it. One person may get to enjoy it. 

Would I not be allowed to scan it and sell it for the cost of the time to do so and the USB drive it's on and the shipping cost? Collating this thing after scanning is going to take a lot of time. To take the pages as scanned and arrange in order on a PDF.

It was a free guide by the U.S. Gov and from 1946. So would that still somehow violate rules as counterfeit because it's a PDF instead of the original paper version? Assuming of course that I state it is a PDF scan of it?  Would Ebay's Counterfeit policy prevent also prevent selling electronic versions of other long out of print items?

It seems like a lot of users have a problem with this and would rather declare if it is not the original print you should not be allowed to sell so many others may benefit from it or your effort in making it available.

[kensgiftshop]

No, you can't scan it and sell copies of it.

[lux.ra_14]

Probably still under copyright protection. Common misperception that all government publications are in the public domain. It doesn't matter, either, that your guide was free in 1946.

[buyselljack2016]

Seems like in the final analysis, as in the other thread, it could come down to ..................

if the venue that you choose to sell it on allows you to do so.

I would say..............  go for it, and see.

Do you expect different answers than on the other thread?

Conterfit items policy being used to delete anythi... - The eBay Community

[slippinjimmy]

The fact that the US Government gave them away for free DOES NOT mean  that the Federal Government does not control the copyright.

Out of print is irrelevant!

What is relevant is that you do not own or control the copyright and therefore any copying for commercial purposes (selling) would be copyright infringement.

If you want to make copies to give away to your friends that would be ok but making copies (digital or hard copy) with the purpose of reselling would be copyright infringement.

[mtgraves7984]

I have a book/pamphlet created by the US Gov in 1946 on Guiding Your Youth.
Now I could sell this paper copy and that's it.

@daemontech 

I visited the other thread earlier, but with this ^^^ snippet... I think you've got it now. Sell that sucker! Good luck. 🙌

[jameshen1]

I don't think this falls under counterfeit policy as you are saying.  It falls under copyright.

[soh.maryl]

Somewhere on that booklet, you should see the word "Copyright" and a date.

That means you cannot copy and sell it.  

[dbfolks166mt]

     It depends. 

https://www.copyrightlaws.com/copyright-laws-in-u-s-government-works/ 

[onefootflippers]

Lets say it was legal. Do you think that could ever possibly be a profitable endeavor?  There are hundreds of thousands of similarly old documents already scanned and out there on the internet to download for free. What would make that one special?

Who is the potential customer?  Your most likely potential customer would immediately upload the thing, you would never sell another copy and you just spent hours on a sale that you cleared $3 on.

I would just list the original and put in the title "unscanned, not on the internet" and let the person who was going to upload it anyway buy it and scan it themselves.

PDF sales have never been a profitable area on ebay, most of the accounts selling them are located overseas and eventually crash and burn.

[lacemaker3]

@daemontech 

Government publications are a slightly different beast. Many/most publications from the USA government (assuming they are not classified) are considered to be in the public domain when they are published, because they were produced using public/taxpayer funds.

You would need to research that, to confirm if the particular booklet you have is in the public domain or not. You can't just assume it. Look at the copyright page (back of the title page) and see what it says there. That's a good place to start.

[lacemaker3]

@daemontech 

Even if a booklet is in the public domain, you are still not allowed to sell digital copies on eBay. You have to be approved to sell electrically-delivered items on eBay. Booklets/manuals are not on the exemption list for this policy.

https://www.ebay.ca/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/electronically-delivered-items-policy?...

[maxine*j]

The U.S. Copyright Act clearly states that copyright protection in the U.S. is not available for any work of the federal government.

The Act states:

105. Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works

Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government, but the United States Government is not precluded from receiving and holding copyrights transferred to it by assignment, bequest, or otherwise.

Citation:
17 U.S. Code § 105 - Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works

.pdf of relevant code:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2010-title17/pdf/USCODE-2010-title17-chap1-sec105.pdf

HOWEVER, all that has nothing to do with counterfeiting or with eBay's restriction on what you want to do, because that is related to its restriction on digital / electronically delivered goods.  Nor do I think there would be enough interest in the thing to make it worth your while to digitize and try to sell, even if eBay allowed it.

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[maxine*j]

Sorry for the  cross post.  I was off finding the exact citation and locating the .pdf of that part of the Copyright Act and did not see you'd already covered this.

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[lacemaker3]

No problem, @maxine*j, I would welcome your backup any time, and your additional information is great.