#Public domain text?
8 messages in this thread
I'm evaluating full-text retrieval engines, and need a suitable test database.
Does anyone know where I can buy lots of public domain ASCII text files?
I know there are CDs on the market that contain lots of out-of-copyright books,
but I'm not sure whether any of them store text in a form I can decipher.
Anyone have one of these? Because I don't want to violate any copyrights, the
text MUST be in the public domain.
Craig
Craig:
This is a potentially sticky area. If you find a CDROM full of
out-of-copyright works of literature, you cannot assume that these files are
free for the taking. The case can be made that the electronic version of that
literature is – in and of itself – a copyrightable derivative work, which
starts the clock over again. Neither can you assume that all data you might
get from the US government is completely free of copyright strings.
The wisest thing is to determine what works you want to re-publish, then
conduct a search of copyright or other property rights. Or find the digital
files and purchase the rights to use from their owner. Unless you convert the
out-of-copyright files yourself, you may want to consult an attorney.
Hope this helps! – Best – Rich Bowers
Rich,
INAA, but i think the use of out-of-copyright books on CDROM (or elsewhere)
for in-house evalutating a text retrieval engine would constitute "fair use".
If, however, Craig was planning to sell or use the data for other uses, that
would be a different story.
Craig,
I have one of the "Library of the Future" disks and it does NOT have the data
in a readable format. It does allow you to save text to a file, but only a
screen at a time. IMHO, it is not the Lib of the Future. It might be nice for
searching text, but definately not for reading books!
Jerry
Jerry:
>>i think the use of out-of-copyright books on CDROM (or elsewhere) for
in-house evalutating a text retrieval engine would constitute "fair use".<<
I agree, but I didn't get that impression. Thanks for the input!
Best – Rich
Craig,
There's an ad that's been running on the CompuServe Classifieds for a while for
"books on floppy". I got the list, and it appears to be a mixed bag of
original works and PD stuff. I seem to have inadvertently dumped it into my
archives, but I'll want to dig it out soon, anyway. That might be a good
source for data at low royalties.
Another good one might be some of the government CD-ROMs.
Ran
You can try the Project Gutenberg archives:
(via FTP)
mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu /etext/etext91 (91 texts) /etext/etext92 /etext/articles
(info)
INDEX and AAINDEX are the indices NEW GUT has more information
The contact e-address is hart@umd.cso.uiue.edu
Regards,
Armando
This sounds promising … I'll check it out.
Thanks, Craig
If you have access to the Internet FTP to mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu login:anonymous
password: your@login cd etext dir (to see files) GET INDEX and the rest is self
explaintory. This is the GUTENBERG PROJECT has dozens of PD text files, AESOPS
fables, Moby Dick, Alice in Wonderland etc. Good Luck