The original texts of these books may now be in the Public Domain, but in order for the lay-person to get a copy (assuming the current publishers don't upload a copyright-free version to say, Gutenberg), you have to scan/OCR an existing copy.
This is where the problem begins, the text of a novel maybe in the public domain but the typesetting, binding and printing of most editions is not.
As such you'll be in breach of copyright if you try to OCR a copy and distribute it.
I'm sure someone will try to call me out on this, but my partner is a qualified librarian, with a specialism in copyright law.
This is where the problem begins, the text of a novel maybe in the public domain but the typesetting, binding and printing of most editions is not.
As such you'll be in breach of copyright if you try to OCR a copy and distribute it.
I'm sure someone will try to call me out on this, but my partner is a qualified librarian, with a specialism in copyright law.