Does anyone know if the factory service diagrams that are present in manufacturer's service manuals (not helms, chilton, etc; although it is apparent they get their images from the factory service manuals) are public domain or restricted usage (i.e. pay per usage), not counting the actual service information; but only a handful of images, for use in publications?

 

The Helms is the FSM. i'm pretty sure it's not public domain.

some manufacturers won't even allow public access (as in buying the manual or whatever) to their manuals. i know federal lawmakers are working on this currently. so you should feel lucky that it's available at the going price. they aren't overpriced; worth every penny.

 

Completely false. All service info, as well as factory scanners and the ability to reprogram/reflash ecus, keys , immobilizers and other modules are available to anybody willing to pay the subscription fee and price for equipment. The R2R sham is a coalition of parts manufacturers that do not have the ability to reverse engineer modules and other such items because they are patented products. They want THAT info to be available to the public(Them) OE info and tooling has been available to the aftermarket for at least 10 years now. We are an independent repair shop and we have OE Honda (HDS, GNA 600), GM( Tech 2) and Ford (IDS) scanners and info.

 

You can buy factory information directly from the OE website. Any OE website. The prices vary. Here is Hondas webssite and prices.
It is not public domain. It is proprietary info.

https://techinfo.honda.com/Rjanisis/logon.asp?Region=US