LEGAL DEPOSIT OF BOOKS

[Iris Nevins <IrisNevins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Pippa and Malcolm from South Africa wrote about the South African
Library.........

I have sent copies of each of my books into the Library of Congress along=

with my copyright application. Three of these were limited edition type
books, with painstakingly hand-marbled samples. I eventaully asked if it
would be OK to send a "cheaper" version....perhaps the book itself, eithe=
r
unbound, or with photocopied samples, or, if I had one a "second" and the=
y
said that would be fine, it was just for documentation.

That of course led to another dilemma.....if some day far in the future a=
n
aspiring marbler or book artist could get access to these books do you
really want to have your work remembered by your "seconds"?

I would ask the South African Library if they would accept a Photcopy of
any of your fine books, done up in a cheap library style binding instead =
of
the original. Or maybe try it once without asking and see what happens.

Marblers had a similar dilemma many years ago, when we were first trying =
to
get copyrights on our papers. The Library of Congress wanted 2 sheet for
each ONE we marbled, since all are slightly different and an "original". =
Oh
yes....plus $10.00 (it is now $20) for each one (which we generally sold
for $7.00!). This of couse, was impossible, and many designers realized
that so we had a lot of unauthorized reproduction going on. Finally I spo=
ke
with a copyright attorney at The Library Of Congress who bent the rules a=
nd
said we could simply send in two copies of a swatch book representing bas=
ic
styles with one fee, and this could be stretched to cover any similar sty=
le
 or color variations without having to send anything additional. They lat=
er
said we could even send a black and white photocopy of our styles instead=

of original swatches. I was later actually able to collect some damages o=
n
a Spanish marble that was not "exactly" represented in what I had sent in=

for copyright. Admittedly, it took over a year, but I did win it.

Well anyway.....to make a short story long.....perhaps the South African
Library can be reasoned with to bend the rules for people in your positio=
n.
I found, though it took time, that all you need to do is find one
reasonable, sympathetic person in a beaurocracy to help you. Maybe they
will give you another option.

Iris Nevins