Products > Vintage Computing

Vintage Computer Schematics - are these available in the public domain?

(1/2) > >>

rthorntn:
Hi,

I really like these, and I'm pretty sure one of the EEVblog members will know something:

https://cityprintsmapart.com/computer-schematics/

Pretty much all of them are cool but ideally I would like to track down vector pdf versions of them that I could arrange into a much larger montage, have it framed locally and hung in my home workshop.

I mean did City Prints create these, any idea?

I would rather avoid paying over U$500 for 10 pieces of fancy paper shipped by Fedex, only to have to scan them in to a computer.

Anyone seen these in the wild, happy to pay for vector file versions, this is for my own personal use, not for resale?

A new thought... it would be amazing to get these as schematics in an Eagle format and have them made in to a PCB!

Thanks.

Richard

Ampera:

--- Quote from: rthorntn on December 04, 2016, 05:59:04 am ---Hi,

I really like these, and I'm pretty sure one of the eevblog members will know something:

https://cityprintsmapart.com/computer-schematics/

Pretty much all of them are cool but ideally I would like to track down vector pdf versions of them that I could arrange into a much larger montage and have that framed locally.

I mean did City Prints create these, any idea?

I would rather avoid paying over U$500 for 10 pieces of fancy paper shipped by fedex, only to have to scan them in to a computer.

Anyone seen these in the wild, happy to pay for vector file versions?

Thanks.

Richard

--- End quote ---

If it's a company that still does what they did back then, you can almost bet they still have copyright on it. Fair use is a choice here, you can use the blueprints as parts of a derivative work that does not rely solely on those schematics to exist, commercially or non commercially. I.E. don't display it proudly where everybody can grab a copy unedited and not part of an artistic creation of some form.

To amend: I am not a lawyer, my advice is not for use in a court of law in any nation of the world.

For stuff like the Dragon computer print, I'm pretty sure nobody is going to go after you if you frame that, same with the 2600. If you mean to throw it up at your office or home, go right ahead, you could probably grab the prints and nobody would mind, heck even your makerspace would be fine, but don't go and do something monetary with it. It all really depends on where you want to hang it.

EDIT: Keep in mind this is US law, and while some of it rubs off in terms of American computers, Australian laws still apply.

Halcyon:
Mere possession of copied/pirated works is not against the law in Australia. However the act of distributing it is (even if you just give it to a mate on a USB stick). Provided you don't share (regardless if you make a profit) someone else's work, it's not unlawful.

This is why the whole 'Dallas Buyers Club' lawsuit failed to curb so-called "illegal downloading". Downloading pirated material isn't illegal in Australia, which is why no one has ever been prosecuted for it. Uploading/sharing it is and it's those users who the prosecution went after.

In your case, if you happen to "acquire" the designs/files you're after and print them for yourself, you'll have no dramas. The person who gave you those files might have a case to answer to and only if they get caught and only if it's in the best financial interest of the rights holder(s) (cost vs. benefit).

amyk:
They look less like actual schematics and more like some sort of abstract vaguely schematic-ish art; note the lack of any text, e.g.

https://cityprints-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/co_apo_1.jpg

If you really wanted to, you could just threshold it to remove the lame watermark, and then autovectorise it pretty easily.

Or even just create your own random schematic-ish thing in a real EDA program and print that.

Ian.M:
If you stick to Sinclair and Amstrad CPC 8 bit hardware documentation and don't resell it you are in the clear - see http://www.worldofspectrum.org/permits/amstrad-roms.txt
There may be similar agreements for other brands, but I wouldn't know where to find them.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page