Using another company's manuals

Subject: Using another company's manuals
From: geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 12:20:14 -0500

Katherin King wondered <<I'm documenting a feature which
integrates our software with another company's hardware. I
want to provide an overview of the hardware component,
but I don't know enough about it to write anything from
scratch.>>

The simple answer is that yes, the material is copyrighted,
and no, you can't use it without permission. Fortunately,
most companies are more than happy to have their products
advertised by another company. Just make sure you get a
signed permission from someone with signing authority
(i.e., a docs manager, not a techwhirler). Since it's hard
to document something you know nothing about, I'd avoid
trying to come up with your own description unless you take
the time to find out what the product actually does and
how... and to clear your overview with the company to make
sure you really understood things right.

This brings up a whole other issue: If you're going to be
including information produced by someone else, who is
legally responsible for problems that arise because of that
information? This is a nontrivial issue, and if your
company routinely bundles together products produced by
others, you should seek legal advice on how to protect
yourself from problems caused by the other company's docs.
Some techwhirlers should be able to provide additional
advice, but since your context is likely to be unique, I
think you'll still have to pay for a lawyer's time. This is
cheap career insurance, particularly since someone else is
paying for it!

--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.

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