These comments may be a bit old already, but since you guys seem to want to
argue a point, why not.
I am not a lawyer, so take this as is.
Copyright lasts for significantly longer than a patent (patent 17-20 years
depending on the jurisdiction and the number of times that the applicant
filed a continuation in progress). If I am not mistaken, copyright
protection lasts 50 years. Copyright also passes to the author's heirs and
successors if the copyright holder dies before the 50 years are passed.
After the copyright time period the information/text becomes open.
You do not have to register the copyright material formally for it to be
protected under law. In many cases it probably makes sense to do so anyway.
While the copyright is in effect, violatation is illegal. Now in practice
as someone indicated, the police may not become involved if the amount is
small. That doesn't mean that it is legal to do below a certain monetary
threshold.
Victor and Eric mentioned that if the copyright holder doesn't prosecute, it
isn't illegal. Well, if that is the case, then why is the Russian guy
(Dimitri?) being prosecuted in the US for copyright violation when the
original company with the complaint withdrew the complaint?
Even if software is abandoned, or if the company that holds the copyright
does bankrupt, someone will still hold the copyright until after the
copyright period expires. In the case of bankruptcy, the intellectual
property will often return to the original authors for the cost of the
actual licensing fees. It is still illegal to copy or use without payment
even if you can't find someone to pay the money to.
Granted, it might make an interesting defense in court if the person says to
Company or Individual "X", "Sorry I used, copied, posted on the internet for
my friends to use, since I couldn't find you to get a release or make
payment."
LOL If this happened, I might even want to watch this court case on TV!
The internet is an interesting medium as it allows the human race to
interact much more closely. Have you guys really tried to find these
abandonware authors or are you taking the easy way out?
My $0.02 for what they are worth.
Philip
> Date: Thu, 06 Sep 2001 08:56:26 -0400
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] Shareware/Freeware Licenses
> From: "Eric L. Strobel" <fyzycyst_at_home.com>
>
>> At 12:21 AM -0400 9/6/01, Victor Rehorst wrote:
>>> I'm just going to add here that, no matter what the copyright laws say, it
>>> is up to the copyright holder to protect it. If they don't, or choose not
>>> to... (IANAL)
>
> Sorry, but that's exactly what copyright law says (to the best of my
> non-lawyer understanding). There is NO copyright violation UNTIL the
> copyright holder comes forward and takes action to defend their copyright.
> If the copyright holder fails to defend their copyright, then there's no
> violation -- the offense can't be prosecuted until/unless the holder comes
> forward with a complaint.
>
> Now, admittedly, this is a strange thing, but that's the way it is. So, I
> guess if you're a developer, you need to make sure you spend some time
> frequenting the various forums where one can obtain pirated software...
>
> - Eric.
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