Could he do this as a job or a business of some sort?

renowen

My brother has a hobby, he finds old, forgotten books and short stories and convert them into ebooks, which he then shares with others on ebook forums.

He has become very 'successful' doing this in the sense that he is a well known member of these forums and I was wondering if this was something he could turn into a proper job and get paid for it? Its very time consuming and he is very particular over it and has learnt how to do it very well.

Im sure there are copyright issues with what he is doing, though he does not currently recieve payment of any kind for the 'work' he does, and tbh most of the books are obsure, long forgotten novels from the 80's that he has discovered in charity shops and in a way given a new lease of life! But obviously if he can do this properly it would be something he would be very good at, and theres seems to be a market for this kind of thing judging by the number of people he has downloading his conversions.

Im not looking for lectures on the legality of this hobby of his, Im after genuine advise and opinions on whether this is something he could pursue or not

Many thanks

R x

LIAM

I'd say not , because of the copyright issues you mention, maybe he could write something himself.

flexrider

With a little time then yes you could if you follow the steps to get copyright permissions

1)find out the publishers and write to them for permission, or just re-write the whole books in a format thats uniqe to you (if you wrote it out word for word exactly thats copyright but if he wrote it like in a different format its his own product under the creative commans act)

what i mean by that is if i told you the goldie locks an the 3 bears story you wont remenber it word for word like have learnt it you so thats just being human and your family can re-write the whole story out in his own design making the infomation he has read his own from his own mind,

i write ebooks everyday, i do research and market to targeted audiences, i mostly use plr products meaning private label right meaning he could sell the ebook with right to the buyer stating they can sell the ebook or use it in any way apart from reading it or printing out the book, or just use it as personal rights only, so when it comes to copyright you are honouring the copyright act because your not distributing the book he was writing out to a mass market,

anyway if you need more help please contact me
thanks
andy

soolin

flexrider wrote: »

With a little time then yes you could if you follow the steps to get copyright permissions

1)find out the publishers and write to them for permission, or just re-write the whole books in a format thats uniqe to you (if you wrote it out word for word exactly thats copyright but if he wrote it like in a different format its his own product under the creative commans act)

what i mean by that is if i told you the goldie locks an the 3 bears story you wont remenber it word for word like have learnt it you so thats just being human and your family can re-write the whole story out in his own design making the infomation he has read his own from his own mind,

i write ebooks everyday, i do research and market to targeted audiences, i mostly use plr products meaning private label right meaning he could sell the ebook with right to the buyer stating they can sell the ebook or use it in any way apart from reading it or printing out the book, or just use it as personal rights only, so when it comes to copyright you are honouring the copyright act because your not distributing the book he was writing out to a mass market,

anyway if you need more help please contact me
thanks
andy

No you cannot rewrite a story in your own words if it is the same story, that breaches copyright .Goldilocks is a different matter though as it is no longer under copyright so is available to all. If you are selling copyrighted material then I would seriously check your situation as legal bills can run into thousands of pounds.

The plagarism of stories has been prosecuted although rarely makes headlines,but for a more high profile example there is currently a case of a piece of music alledgedly copied from an old girl guide song and used as part of the refrain for a pop song that is going through the various legal channels.