The Origami Forum

I recently downloaded volumes 1-11 of the Tanteidan Convention books. I couldn't find any copyright notices on these books but I don't speak any Japanese. Anyone know about the legalities of these pdf's?

These books are published by OrigamiHouse and copyright Japan Origami Academic Society. Legally you should remove these pdfs from your computer and purchase the books. Currently conventions 9 through 12 can be purchased here: http://www.origamihouse.jp/book/original/house.html

Yes, those pdf files are illegal, just like mp3s of songs you do not own. Though, the origami community is particle sized compared to the music community, so sharing such files is much more of a henderance to the art. Origami House soley publishes origami books, many of them being these convention volumes and other books of complex works. Volumes 1-8 are out of print as mentioned before, and not likely ever to be in print. If you wish to keep them, I believe the best action would be to pay for the whole lot (roughly $330 for 1-11 at their current rate). Supporting such publishers in our small community will help contribute to future books and artists (who learn from these books). With file sharing sites such as rapidshare, megaupload, etc. along with 4chan, its hard to keep origami books such as these from being illegally spread. Its on a much wider scale now than it used to be a few years ago.

Hopefully I haven't scared you away by now, I have a tendency to rant =p. It depends on your morality, but I believe the accepted actions would be deleting them, or at least purchasing the available hard copies if you do not wish to go the extra mile. If you know the location of where you downloaded those files, please PM me and I'll try to contact a proper authority to have them removed.

the quality on those pdfs are rubbish and secondly there are loads of pages missing, and would'nt you rather have hard copies

Exactly.
For pdfs, you either have to sit at the computer all the time, or use up your computer ink.

you should never forget, that some of us are living deep inside of nowhere, where it's hard to get stuff (like the depths of russia, like in parts of asia or parts of south-america)... some of us don't have enough money to buy books AND food. of course some or even a lot of traders are closefisted but there could be a good reason for trading stuff.
it's probably no excuse to copy stuff but a good explanation.

And then there´s the point of "out of print" books.
All this knowledge included there would be lost for the Origami community if there weren´t a way of getting them somehow.
Maybe this is no excuse, but I think it should be taken into consideration when speaking about such things.

Well, and to say it clear: Diagram trading on this Forum will not be accepted.

To add a different perspective as well, I have attempted to obtain copies of all of the books I own (approaching 100 and still acquiring) because it isn't practical for me to tote books everywhere when I want to tinker with Origami. I like to be able to have my collection with me when I visit inlaws or just travel in general. Same concept of having an mp3 player... its not exactly easy to carry 100s of cds with you at all times if you have such a collection. Just my $0.02.

That´s a good point as well, deciding what books to take on a longer trip can be painful if you´re limited to a few, a digital copy would make things a lot easier.

I like to have copies of my books and magazines on my computer. When I go home from school for breaks or whatever, it's nice to have everything there instead of having to lug the books around. Also, I actually PREFER folding from diagrams on my computer. Thanks to the zoom function, it can be easier to read diagrams on the computer than in the book.

And 4chan? It has almost no origami.

There are different views, but I believe in the intrest of keeping our art (and artists) alive, the artists should be paid if at all possible. Even if you can't pay the artists back monetarily, at least contribute back to the art. The tanteidan convention volumes especially represent many authors, and an exclusive origami book publishing company. To not repay them could cause the community to lose something both rare and valuable.

While 4chan doesn't visibly have much origami compared to papercraft, there is an archive kept of links to files posted to their site (including your fake ryu-zin diagrams, Jared ;p). Popular files there are entire books, some still in print. There may not be very many files there, but 4chan is open to the entire internet and has thousands of visitors I'm sure.

A common trend I see these days (while not particularly related to this thread) is how people value art. I believe many people see it as a waste of time and worthless these days, from music to paintings. Art is a physical embodiment of thought, and origami captures this very well. Through a model you can tell many things about the artist, their perceptions of the model, and the method used to create it. I believe that to be very valuable indeed, on many levels, and that is why I believe its worth attempting to repay the authors when possible.

These of course are my personal feelings, and I'm just expressing them ;p.

Joe the white wrote: archive kept of links to files posted to their site

(Origami Book: works of some Asian dude)? haha

Also it like Koh saids
"The flagrant disregard of such is likely to lead to less and less creative folders willing to publicise and share their work, and less and less new origami for the community at large."

rock n robot

I agree with you Joe, but if the books are out of print I still think that there should be some way of getting the content within them. How to do this though, while at the same time protecting the copyrights of the artist is the question. i think that the best way is to contact the artist or society involved in the publication of the books and requesting some manner of accessing the material.

Rdude

I agree with you as well Rdude. Respect is very important. Sometimes organizations or authors keep a mastercopy or some production copies of their work, and if you write them a nice letter(not just about the book, how you enjoy their works, etc.), chances are they may be able to help you obtain it. A big problem with not asking permission and downloading out of print books, is if they will ever be in print again. Books such as Origami Fantasy saw a reprinting (while reaching nearly $300 on e-bay at times before that), and its possible that Issei Super Complex Origami or the convention annuals may some day see a reprinting.

Suprisingly Rockman, a few 4channers know their stuff, besides the ones who post here ;p. Koh has similar feelings to mine. Respect is very important as I said earlier. You have to give it to get it, and the origami community is very tight-knit (in a sense). I'm sure people such as Satoshi Kamiya who barely got a book out would feel much less inclined to write another one knowing people posted it all over the internet.

If you and your origami friends met outside of the internet, there isn't a law against sharing a book with a friend. The US laws even allows you to make some photo copies (in an amount judged by the facility copying them) for personal study (just not the whole book). Compared to posting them publically on the internet, thats like opening a stand at a world origami convention and yelling that you have free unlimited copies of X author's book. Thats where the main problem lies.

As an aditiional comment for my previous one, on Hideo Komatsu's website (if google is translating it right, it would be helpful if I could actually read Japanese) it says something to the effect that if you write a respectful email to him regarding diagrams to one of his models that are in out of print or difficult to get books, Mr. Komatsu would be willing to help you out to get the diagram. If anyone here can read Japanese and verify this that would be great (it says this on the main page of his site)

Rdude