* "Eric L. Strobel" <fyzycyst_at_home.com> on Thu, 06 Sep 2001
| Now, if you sell that book, is that theft or not? You're profiting from
| someone else's intellectual property. But, who do you pay a royalty to?
| Who holds the copyright? THAT is what we're talking about here.
Go look up right of first sale sometime, because this is just as much a
straw-man argument as breaking into someone's house to steal that book.
| How is it piracy? What crime has been committed?
None, because copyright law is CIVIL law, not criminal (at least up to a
point). Talking about crime is just as pointless.
| What generally happens if I find a suitcase full of money and there's no ID
| with it? It's my understanding that, after reasonable efforts to establish
| the true owner (ads in the paper, etc.), if no owner comes forward, the
| money (and suitcase, if I want it) is mine. Am I wrong in that?? If I'm
| right then I haven't stolen the money, now have I? Isn't this what true
| abandonware is like?
In a word, no.
See also the hassles that Steve Jackson Games is going through trying to
republish "The Fantasy Trip". Steve cannot legally republish, because one
of the original copyright holders -- a friend of his no less! -- cannot be
found. This is exactly the kind of situation you have described, and the
law, at least in the US, is absotively, posilutely, crystal clear: no, it
is not.
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