I agree it is difficult to determine the legality of things. However, and you must forgive me for old age and a raft of problems but the story is really contained in the two GHT books.
Actually the major problem( to me) stems from the original failure of the company and the subsequent take over/buy out by Magicalia. Up to the then it was simply a few writers getting perhaps a small handout for their contribution or many like myself- doing it for the joy of the hobby. During the interval, many contributors were concerned with the failure of not only the company but the loss of information. It would seem that the late Jim Early had permission to copy and put it onto the 'net-- and perhaps CD's for little more than the cost of materials. The new takeover firm threatened legal action and the now offending stuff was removed.
As I said, I was sort of involved and the then an editor of Model Engineer or Model Engineers Workshop wrote to me and perhaps others seeking help to find the contributors/ copyright holders. In other words, I assumed that at that time, despite the solicitors' threats they were lost. I'd been in contact with one author who had gone as far as producing a small bool on his Unimat(s). He was ex RAF like me, and we both had unimats then.
He died, I had his book and had he lived he would have been almost 90!
Again, I tried to trace 'Martin Cleeve' or correctly,, I had a copy of his patent application and knew of his death but finally gave up as hopeless. My wife's father was dead and my mother in law was under the Court of Protection- and my wife was ill and there were three houses as part of the estate without - a valid will and the solicitors were also 'in administration'
George Thomas's affairs were far simpler. Some of this comes from Dr W A Bennett who was my wife;s classmate at UNI and the rest from GHT's books.
GHT had published his two appendices to what was going to be his major work. He became( like most of us) ill and incapable( I'm under Enduring Powers of Attorney). However when he did die , all of his contributions to Model Engineer and his photographs were available. It seems that Neil Shackleton Hemmingway, the first proprietor of Hemmingwaykits had power to both sell GHT's workshop and to do what GHT intended that is to write his book. Bill Bennett took on the task helped by many friends and all his previous articles in Model Engineer were embodied i the two books. Before my wife's death, Bill turned up for the 50th Anniversary of Christine's attendance at Newcastle Dental School graduation onPalace Green, Durham. At the dinner, Bill told me that the royalties from the two books were still coming in. He was a retired dentist and principal of his own firm and the whole issue was 'Peanuts'. He was doing it as many others had done as a Labour of Love.
Neil Hemingway has also died and Kirk Burswell has the business now. I spoke to Kirk about the Whereabouts of Bill and like me, he has no idea.
As I have said, I'm slowly getting rd of my workshop. I sold two lathes which included a ML10 book a few days ago. Most of my books, records and whatever had to be pulped following the loss of my workshop roof around the time that my wife was dying and quite frankly what was contained or lost or destroyed was literally of no consequence. Most of what I had on my computer then was scrapped as I have been twice 'robbed'' and the theft of my bank details is still in the hands yet again with my bank and the police.
So that is my account of things as of this morning------ however I understand that Copyright Law in England is for a vast more number of years and equally important, the foregoing information is also 'Copyright' for another 100 years.
However, I hope that it is of some assistance to you. my thoughts- and they are my thoughts are that these Model Engineer's write up are embodied almost word for word in GHT's Model Engineer's Workshop Manual- under copyright as explained above.
Regards
Norman