Copyright of scanned images of public-domain works

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• December 19, 2011 @ 9:36amnhgqvql says:

  Hello,
  
  There are many sites (some of which require a registration or even a paid subscription), which offer scanned images of public-domain books or public-domain periodicals. Such sites usually prohibit strictly the distribution of those images on another server (in other words, the distribution of those images to unregistered users). Would I be really breaking a law if I distribute those images, considering that they are only scans, and that the original works are public-domain? Does the scanner have legal rights over the scanned images?
• December 20, 2011 @ 10:51pmnhgqvql says:

  Wow, I finally receive a reply, and it's a spam message. What a sorry excuse for a forum: in here, you're either talking to yourself or to spam bots.
• January 2, 2012 @ 2:11pmwilliamsonl says:

  Sorry it took so long to get a reply. This sight will be taken down shortly for maintenance so we are not monitoring it closely right now.
  If something is in the public domain, then anyone is free to use it. Scanning it into a database does not put it back under copyright. The only thing that might prohibit it in this scenario is if you agree to a licensing agreement when you sign up for access.
• January 10, 2012 @ 3:54pmnhgqvql says:

  Thank you for your reply, and Happy New Year!

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