Very recently, I had a list member ask me for a copy of a CD I'd
provided him of the electronic Triumph service bulletins I'd reproduced
from photocopies made available by Joe Curry through a source of his
year before last. The list member was trying to obtain copies of
bulletins which were not included in the set I had produced, but the new
owner of the originals (who had purchased the bulletins on eBay) had
tried, as a condition of swapping one set of copies for another, to
obtain a copy of the CD I produced, and said, in effect, better hurry if
you want the copies you need. I became suspicious at the need to provide
a copy ASAP.
Some history is required in the further explanation of this message. Joe
Curry made available, to many people on the various Triumph lists,
copies of a set of Triumph bulletins he'd acquired from a friend in the
Seattle area, when he lived there.
As those bulletins were copied and distributed, Andy Mace, president of
the VTR, made the sensible suggestion that perhaps these bulletins could
be converted to electronic form, and be made available on the web to all
who wished them. After several months of trials, none of the results
were particularly handsome or compact in file size. After some fiddling,
I found a way to reproduce the bulletins in reasonably compact form,
without depending upon the scans of the original bulletins in graphic
format.
The bulletins themselves are not copyrighted, and many of the early ones
are specifically marked "Not For Publication." Now that British-Leyland
(as it was in the `70s and early `80s), Triumph, and Standard-Triumph
are no more, it seems that these bulletins and the information in them
is not restricted by original copyright nor restricted from
distribution. For that reason, I spent virtually every weekend for
several months reproducing the available bulletins in readily available
electronic format. The electronic files of the bulletins I've received
to date are available by ftp at:
http://www.thelittlemacshop/trsite/bulletins.html
through the kind auspices of Dan Buettner.
At the last VTR convention, I supplied, to friends and others unknown to
me, several CDs as gifts and door prizes which included all the service
bulletins converted to date. None of these CDs were either locked for
copying or carried a copyright notice regarding my conversion of the
photocopies to electronic format (for which I retain copyright on the
converted files), nor which included restrictions for commercial gain.
I simply wish to advise all list members and Standard-Triumph car club
members world-wide that any solicitation they may receive for sale of
electronic versions of bulletin sets on CD in PDF format, complete or
otherwise, through eBay or other sources, is very likely a waste of
money and a violation of copyright. I have made available on the web the
reproduced bulletins I have for the expressed purpose of providing
useful information to Triumph owners, at no cost whatsoever.
Eventually, when the bulletin set is more or less complete, I will make
an announcement, to the VTR and to Triumph clubs world-wide, that CDs of
the bulletins will be available for the cost of reproduction and
shipping (approx. $3 per copy). Hopefully, that will eliminate the
possibility of eBay con artists attempting to sell to the uninitiated at
unreasonable prices what is now available for free.
I have made no money on this project to date, and intend to make none.
It has cost a few dollars in materials, and many weekends of my time,
but I do not _at all_ begrudge the time. I simply wish to avoid any
possibility of newcomers being charged for something they can obtain for
free by FTP. Dan Buettner has very graciously made FTP space available
for the bulletins I've reproduced to date, on his site, and he deserves
considerable applause for that effort.
I hope, in time, to obtain more bulletins when they become available and
include them in the current set. In recent days, several list members
have offered copies of more bulletins, of use to both US and world-wide
members, and those will be included as they are received and converted
to electronic form.
Again, if any you have bulletins, or copies of bulletins which are not
currently in the set available by ftp, please let me know. I will pay
for copying and shipping charges for bulletins not currently available
in the electronic set available for download.
But, to reiterate, all Triumph owners should benefit from this project,
and no one person will personally profit from the work, including me.
Period. If any of you are approached by an unknown third party to supply
electronic materials offered by me or are made an offer to buy
electronic files produced by me, let me know. I will take care of such,
post-haste.
Cheers, all.
--
Michael D. Porter
Roswell, NM (yes, _that_ Roswell)
[mailto:mporter@zianet.com]
`70 GT6+ (being refurbished, slowly)
`71 GT6 Mk. III (organ donor)
`72 GT6 Mk. III (daily driver)
`64 TR4 (awaiting intensive care)
`80 TR7 (3.8 liter Buick-powered)
`86 Nissan 300ZX (the minimal-maintenance road car)
`68 VW Type II Camper (Lancia twin-cam powered, but feeling its age....)
Remember: Math and alcohol do not mix... do not drink and derive.
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