Feelings about printing out of print decks?

I'm just curious if anyone has any feelings about printing out of print decks?

Like, grabbing some screen shots off the internet and printing them on card stock for your own personal use.

Is that a thing that anyone does?

I'm curious to get a topic started on this, I just thought of it today,
and I was wondering if it was a thing that was never done or super common.

I tried it a couple of times. It uses a lot of ink, especially if you want quality, and getting good pics online can be a challenge. It might depend on the deck. If it's one that goes for hundreds or thousands you might be able to save money printing it yourself; otherwise, just save your money and buy a copy secondhand.

It's not something I would do, except maybe for the Greenwood, as I believe there is tacit permission from the artist to do so.

I think it's nasty and tacky to be honest (well you did ask ).

If I went to a reader and they had fuzzy home-printed cards to read from, I wouldn't be impressed. There is of course the whole copyright thing, but just in terms of - like - your tools - it would be like going to the dentist and seeing taped-together home-made pliers. Not something that would inspire confidence in me to be honest.

If you want a thread on home-printing of decks, just start a thread on the Greenwood. All discussion on the Greenwood deck now degenerate into how everyone printed theirs - forget pre-shamanic symbolism, it's what thickness of card was used and how the backs were aligned etc that now counts .

CherryNukaCola said:

It's not something I would do, except maybe for the Greenwood, as I believe there is tacit permission from the artist to do so.

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I thought of the Greenwood too, because I printed it for personal use the other day. As you said, the artist has given permission. She still owns the copyright to her art regardless of the fact that it's oop, so I'm grateful she chose to make it available.

It's illegal if the deck is still under copyright*. Just like downloading music for your"personal use" is illegal. In the US, "personal use" isn't a defense in a copyright suit because it's not one of the four elements of "fair use".

Only you can decide if it is right or wrong. That's a personal ethics call that other people can advise you about, but only you can actually decide.

That said, it's very difficult to catch people who do that, so the chances of your being brought to task over it are very very small.

*Sometimes people will give you permission if you ask. That's a "license" that allows you to do whatever they said you could do with those images.

Some decks are licensed with a Creative Commons license, which means the deck creator is giving permission in advance as long as you follow the rules of the license.

There are two aspects to this discussion - there's the obvious copyright issue which always generates debate and then there's the other aspect - actually the first thing I thought of when I read the OP - how we as readers feel (or would feel) about using a home-made copy of a deck, whether we feel we are using something substandard or "cheap and nasty".

Copyright issues apart (and they aren't really "apart", they're very central to the debate), I personally wouldn't use one. I'd just find an in print deck I can read with and use that. I don't believe anyone can only read with that particular out of print deck - whichever it may be - and no other.

Le Fanu said:

I don't believe anyone can only read with that particular out of print deck - whichever it may be - and no other.

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If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with. I also think the mystique about out of print decks doesn't lead to having a better reading deck. There are lots of easily available decks that are fantastic reading decks.

Abrac said:

I tried it a couple of times. It uses a lot of ink, especially if you want quality, and getting good pics online can be a challenge. It might depend on the deck. If it's one that goes for hundreds or thousands you might be able to save money printing it yourself; otherwise, just save your money and buy a copy secondhand.

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To be perfectly honest with you, the one I was considering is the Homestuck Tarot.

It was given away as a reward in a kickstarter.

As far as I know there are only 1,731 copies in existence.

So the hard part is finding someone who has a deck, and doesn't want it!

If you come across anyone who's selling one, please let me know!

lilylilac said:

To be perfectly honest with you, the one I was considering is the Homestuck Tarot...

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As a fellow Homestuck fan , I noticed that for a while a few years ago it said Sold Out, but in late 2014 it was back in stock again at $20. So maybe...
(ETA - I'd click "notify me when it's back in stock" on welovefine, if you haven't already seen that. here)