Scans of Manuals

[Hawaii]

Is there some impediment to the non-commercial, educational, posting of scans of various manuals?  It seems to me that one of us should tear apart the BBB, scan it and post it.  Same thing with other manuals.   Thoughts?

Andy

[66andBlue]

".. non-commercial, educational, posting of scans .." 
1. We are not classified as an "educational institution or group".  Even if we were there are limitations see: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280.shtml
2. Posting copyrighted material on a web site available to everyone in the world can hardly be called "fair use".
3. From time to time someone will copy a page or two from the BBB and post it here (I have done that) - that is probably as much as we can do without running into serious problems.

Why not spend a few dollars and buy the BBB on a CD?

[treedoc]

Why not spend a few dollars and buy the BBB on a CD?

Where do you buy it and approx how much?

[Hawaii]

Alfred:

I have the BBB; I was not looking for a freebie.  I was looking to help the Group by tearing apart my BBB and making it available to others.  As a new member, I was kind of looking for a way to ease myself into the Group by offering to take the laboring oar and do something of use and benefit to everyone.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Andy

P.S.  The BBB is no longer available on CD from the MBZ Classic Car Center. 

[Peter van Es]

P.S.  The BBB is no longer available on CD from the MBZ Classic Car Center.  

Actually, it is. See http://www.sl113.org/wiki/Documents/BBB and to buy it directly, go to this link. It's halfway down the page, and costs around $20.

I have that CD-ROM and it is essentially a collection of scanned pdf's from a number of Big Blue Books. I could put it on the website in about a day. The reason we don't is because it's illegal.

Peter

[SteveK]

Peter, I tried to buy this about 9 months ago and was told that it was no longer supported by who ever developed it originally due to software changes.  I tried both MB and the other websites that had it listed.  (two took my money and then had to return it because they could not deliver)

I have a BBB, but for $20 would love to have it on disk!

[Peter van Es]

Ok, I stand corrected.

If MB does not produce the CD-ROM anymore, perhaps you could borrow someone else's copy. In todays world of large harddrives it's not that big anymore...

[Benz Dr.]

So...... who exatctly would they sue?  The person who posted it? The site? The BOD's?

 I ask because this has come up before and the whole idea was more or less scoffed at. However, that was some lowly vendor and not amightly MB. Clearly, money talks......

  Just asking.

[Andres G]

Dan,

I've been part of a couple of internet based communities like this one for almost 10 years now (both of them based abroad) and this subject surfaces every once in a while. In the end, it's probably the attitude of defending the copyright law that drives members and site administrators alike to protect this type of distribution of information.

It may seem subtle or unimportant, until you realize that the GPS map that your friend downloaded illegally from an internet site was designed and sold to the device manufacturer by your father's company, and that every time someone does an illegal download they are inadvertedly stealing from his pockets... I've always imagined that if we had to "steal" something that is sitting on top of someone's desk instead of hidden in a hard drive, things would be a lot harder and we'd all be more respectful of intellectual property.

Just a thought.

Andres G

[Benz Dr.]

Oh don't worry. I understand how it's supposed to work. I also understand that MB has a crew of copy lawyers sitting around with nothing better to do than pick on people who use the word Benz or Mercedes in their advertising or company logo.

 Or what will really gets their attention; copy their part numbers, prices etc. with the purpose of solliciting business .  We ( meaning someone around here ) should know better it seems but still let people around here do it anyway..






But, I was just asking.

[mdsalemi]

I read this thread and contacted Tom Hanson himself, because I'm in a bit of disbelief.

Yes, MB, MBUSA, etc. has NO service manuals for sale in either paper or CD.  Incredible.

It may be a talking point with the Classic Center in Germany, but for now--what ever is floating around is what is available.  Nothing from the manufacturer, in English at least.

(I'm still shaking my head...how difficult is it to duplicate a CD-ROM?...)

[66andBlue]

The Classic Center in Germany still sells manuals in German and in English on CD but at an outrageous price!
I have always wondered why MB Headquarters allowed Irvine to undercut them significantly.
Could that be the reason why these cheaper ones are no longer available?

[jfkb2]

I just ordered and received a new owners manual for my 230 sl from Germany, the printing is poor and it's not bound very well.  Price was 32,62 euros ($44.47), the real kicker was the shipping, standard UPS 45,00 euros ($61.35). Ouch!