COPYRIGHT ON OLD LUCAS PUBLICATIONS

[Mike Allfrey]

G'dday Folks,

I have a general question and I trust that I have chosen the correct place in Jowett Talk.

I have a complete set of the Lucas Overseas Technical Correspondence Course which was put out by Joseph Lucas (Sales and Service) Ltd. in about, I think 1951. For example, there is information about the Lucas DKY distributor and the !NEW! DM2 version. There is also some information about flashing indicators, but the semaphore arm type of trafficators get detailed coverage, and there are some Phillips head screws in a few illustrations. The Diploma inside the folder's cover is dated 1958, so I think I have the period sort of covered.

Lately, I have taken it upon myself to carry out a 'restoration' of the course and that task is at last completed. All sections are now restored as PDF documents, the aim being to keep the whole course in an easily accessed format, hopefully easily understood by people much younger than I am. These documents are not simple scanned pages, the text was optically character read by my scanner's built in software and converted into a MS Word document. The illustrations were individually scanned, cleaned up in my photo editing suite with all text in the illustrations erased. Those illustrations that required text to be inserted, had that done using the same font as used in the MS Word documents. The illustrations were inserted into the Word documents and it is hoped that they will stay where placed,

Now, to the big question, if I were to supply Jowett clubs with CD-Rs containing the course in its restored state, how would that be affected by copyright? Bearing in mind that this project is not at all for profit or financial gain.

Does anyone in our club know the rules about this?

I did some research on Joseph Lucas Ltd. and found that, by a long route, it is now a part of the TWR group. I have written a letter about this matter to TWR (UK) but have not received any response.

The same has happened with the old The Autocar Magazine, no response to two letters on the subject by the new owners, at all.

Any comments?

A Lucas enthusiast,

Mike Allfrey.

[Alastair Gregg]

Mike,

I looked into Copyright a couple of months ago. The Copyright is owned by the company who employed the artist. If unlike Jowett the ownership of that company can be traced to a modern day live company on any continent then Copyright exists for 70 years from the date of first publication on the first continent it was published in. You have done the right thing in asking for permission from TWR. They will have little interest and you will be hard pressed to get a reply. However the law says if you did publish they could prosecute you even if it were not for profit or financial gain. That said it is most unlikely that they would. So to be safe wait until 2022. (1 year after your 1951 + 70 years)

Adverts are under the same law, as are articles. Magazines can exercise copyright on anything they comissioned. If they publish an article from Lucas, then Lucas/TWR own the copyright

This advice is given in good faith and does not constitute anything other than my current understanding.

[PJGD]

Mike,

It might be worth making contact through this Aftermarket branch of Lucas in case they wish to show greater interest: http://lucas.info

As a former Lucas employee for almost 30 years until they got folded into TRW (who still pay me a small monthly pension), I too have many old Lucas Service publications which I have been slowly scanning as time permits. I sincerely doubt that anyone there has any thoughts about exercising copyright on these publications; it is in their financial interest that as many Lucas equipped vehicles as possible remain on the road.

Philip

[Mike Allfrey]

Thanks Alastair and Philip,

Nice to know, Philip, that there is someone other than me who is happy with Lucas products. I have now sent two letters to the Lucas and TRW contact addresses, that were found on two different Websites. Will see what comes out of those requests. I guess there is no one who is prepared to make a judgement in these modern times. It is not as if Jowett and Rover vehicle owners of the period are going to have any influence on the sales of modern Lucas products.

In my sixty-plus years of motoring, I have never been stranded on the road due to a faulty Lucas product. Came close recently, but the Rover's alternator had been fitted with a Chinese bearing. I managed to keep the engine running, on the battery, for three hours while the ammeter was showing a small discharge! That alone says something.

I have a firm belief that we need to keep this service information in a format that younger enthusiasts may understand. My thinking is that the information could be kept on a smart telephone thing for ready reference. Just imagine the situation, engine cuts out due to lack of maintenance, switch on the screen thing and there it is - a full-house trouble shooting procedure, all lit up!

It was interesting to note that a number of the Lucas course illustrations, showed installations on Ferguson TE-Series tractors. It was probably the 'photographic grey' that attracted the cameraman.

Will let you know how I get on,

Mike A.