I wouldn't risk bringing the pestilence of the government or anyone's copyright lawyers down on anyone. There's enough of that without provoking more. I was thinking of a not-for-profit derivative work printed by a not-for-profit machine, not about the original owners of the characters. You're right and it is unfortunate that approaching them regarding some kind of pay-per license arrangement would probably unleash the lawyers.
I appreciate the effort to create electronic readable files and the various advantages of the new readers. Then again, I can't say I'd be comfortable taking an e-book to the beach. I'm not a Luddite by any means but my preferred medium is still the Biologically Oriented Optical Knowledgebase.
