Toshiba laptop service manuals and the sorry state of copyright law

[wraith808]

For three years I have run Tim's Laptop Manuals, where laptop repair manuals are free for all to download and use. Toshiba have now used copyright to force me to take down all Toshiba service manuals.


Excerpt from Blog Post

As you would be no doubt already aware, I run a section of my blog here devoted to the free sharing of laptop service manuals. This is a side project I have run for the last three years, gathering as many repair manuals as I could find on the internet and rehosting them on my website for anybody to download and use.

I have unhappy news for you all. Since I was first contacted by Toshiba Australia’s legal department, I have been attempting to discuss with them the potential for me to continue to share their laptop service manuals on my site. Their flat and final response was “You do not have permission [to disseminate Toshiba copyright material] nor will it be granted to you in the foreseeable future.” As a result, all Toshiba material that was on my website is now gone, permanently.

More at link.

[IainB]

Yep, could well be likely to invoke the Streisand effect.
Seems like a very strange move by Toshiba Australia. I don't understand it.
Toshiba is one of my preferred laptop brands - because of the usually excellent ergonomic design.
I currently support 2 x Toshiba laptops, 3 x DELL laptops, 2 x Asus laptops, and 1 x HP laptop. As I usually try to at least initially service them myself, it goes without saying that I will always need free and ready access to any necessary documentation - especially after warranty has expired.
If this recent move meant that I could not have that free and ready access to Toshiba documentation, then I would probably be unlikely to buy any more Toshiba laptops or recommend them for that reason.

[40hz]

Toshiba has always been unusually persnickety about who gets to see their service documentation. I'm not sure what the motivation behind that is. Apple is also very protective about service docs -  except with Apple it's more understandable in that they're a single-source service parts supplier for their products and has created its own network of authorized service providers.

One reason I've stopped recommending Toshiba laptops to my clients is because of the nonsense you need to go through where I am to get service - and the relative dearth of service information available for pubic access.

Anybody know (or have a contact in Toshi that could say) what this is all about?

[Tinman57]

No service manuals available = You have to use Toshiba's repair services.....  Yep, that pretty much sucks....

[IainB]

No service manuals available = You have to use Toshiba's repair services.....  Yep, that pretty much sucks....

Yes, and if that's not only the implication but also the fact, then I guess I won't be a customer any more. I won't be forced into lock-in. It's a detestable monopolistic approach.

[Renegade]

No good deed goes unpunished.

[erikts]

iFixit CEO launches open Toshiba service guide scheme

The move comes after Toshiba’s Australian wing used lawyers to force blogger Tim Hicks’ to remove Toshiba manuals from his site, Future Proof, which archives documentation for kit to ensure it’s available even after machines have reached the end of their life as products.