Hi Neil, > > The list seems to concentrate on getting the manufacturers to > > comply. IIRC Harald had success in the German courts against a > > retailer, stopping them selling a violating product. Would that be > > an easier method to apply pressure on the manufacturers. > > If the rightsholder could demonstrate that the retailer had performed > an act restricted by copyright then, yes, going against the retailer > could well be an option.
Good so far... > If, for example, the retailer was the first one to import the work in > question into Europe, or copied the software onto the device itself. ...but then these conditions. If a retailer buys a palette of merchandise in good faith and is then later told they are manufactured and sold to them without the copyright holder's permission, I don't think them having to be the first importer into Europe is a condition of having them stop sales? Amazon release FLOSS software. Some of those coders will understand the GNU GPL enough to perhaps want to help out with internal contacts? Discussion could then start on whether Amazon would consider refusing to stock items where copyright holders, e.g. Busybox, show a likely infringement and the shipper to Amazon, typically the manufacturer, doesn't provide a good response. Yes, there's a cost to Amazon. If they thought that ultimately a court might tell them to stop selling, then they could see an internal compliance handler as a cheaper option. Get one big international retailer publically doing this and smaller ones can be pointed to it with the suggestion they follow suit. The manufacturer might churn out product after product but they often all infringe and hampering sales across models might hit them in the pocket more than a direct court case over infringement and be quicker acting. Cheers, Ralph.
