Re: Software piracy [was 840av]

[Clark Martin]

At 2:48 AM -0500 1/20/2003, Scott Holder wrote:

>As far as I know, in the case where the copyright holder truly doesn't
>exist any longer and wasn't just bought by someone else (thereby
>transferring the copyrights in most cases), it would then be legal to
>distribute it.

But remember, a company that folds or what have you probably still 
sells off it's assets to satisfy it's creditors.  Even old software 
that is not being published anymore can be considered an asset so 
it's likely that someone still owns it.
-- 
Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA
Macintosh / Internet Consulting
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"

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Re: Software piracy [was 840av]

[E McCann]

At 11:36 PM 1/19/2003, [EMAIL PROTECTED] typed thusly:

>On this note, does anyone know the legalities of abandoned software? Is there
>an inventory anywhere of what software is legally abandoned? Also, what is
>the legality of software where the co. that produced it is no more, hence
>it is not available?

AFAIK, there is no "legal" abandoned software. There is an "abandonware" 
movement that's trying to get stuff more than 5 years old (I think it is) 
or "no longer supported" put out into "public domain." Once in a while, a 
publisher *will* just say "Here, this version is free." (Wordperfect 3.5e 
for Mac, or the Zork 1,2,and 3 games, come to mind.) Other than that, it's 
technically also piracy... 


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Re: Software piracy [was 840av]

[Scott Holder]

At 02:54 AM 1/20/2003 -0500, you wrote:

>Probably not unless and until the owner had officially "published" a release.
>
>See PCSetup 2.0's release, for an example.

As near as I can tell, PCSetup 2.0 is a case of the original company being 
bought out, plus having a license from Apple. It's clearly being released 
for free by the company, not just being distributed by people without any 
connections.

In the case of a company's complete disappearance, I'm not sure who would 
initiate legal action, or what party would be the beneficiary.

Copyright law is long and twisted :)

Scott Holder


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Re: Software piracy [was 840av]

[PeterH5322]

In a message dated 1/19/03 11:50:23 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

<<
As far as I know, in the case where the copyright holder truly doesn't exist 
any longer and wasn't just bought by someone else (thereby transferring the 
copyrights in most cases), it would then be legal to distribute it.
>>

Probably not unless and until the owner had officially "published" a release.

See PCSetup 2.0's release, for an example.


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Re: Software piracy [was 840av]

[Scott Holder]

At 08:36 AM 1/20/2003 +0100, you wrote:
>On this note, does anyone know the legalities of abandoned software? Is there
>an inventory anywhere of what software is legally abandoned? Also, what is
>the legality of software where the co. that produced it is no more, hence
>it is not available?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Yane

Strictly legally, if a company hasn't released the copyright, and the 
copyright holder still exists, then it can not legally be distributed. If 
Sierra says we can't distribute Mystery House, more or less their first 
game from the early 80's, then it's not legal to distribute it. That's not 
to say they'll prosecute if it is, but strictly speaking it's not legal.

I'm not going to get into a moral vs. justified vs. "If they're not going 
to sell it, then why not" argument, just speaking strictly.

As far as I know, in the case where the copyright holder truly doesn't 
exist any longer and wasn't just bought by someone else (thereby 
transferring the copyrights in most cases), it would then be legal to 
distribute it.

"Abandonware" is just a buzzword created by those trying to justify it. I'm 
personally on the side of preserving old, but useful software that isn't 
being sold anymore, but that doesn't change the fact it's still techincally 
illegal.

Scott Holder


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Re: Software piracy [was 840av]

[mriscott]

> >Software companies don't want either of those things to happen, as it means
> >the recipient of the second-hand software is not going to bother buying new
> >software from the software companies.  I'm not going to be a hypocrit and
> 
> Which is a load of horsepucky, because most of the time that people around
> *HERE* are looking for used software, they're only doing so because the company
> REFUSES TO SELL A VERSION THAT WILL WORK ON MACHINES RELEVANT TO THIS LIST.


On this note, does anyone know the legalities of abandoned software? Is there
an inventory anywhere of what software is legally abandoned? Also, what is
the legality of software where the co. that produced it is no more, hence
it is not available?

Thanks,

Yane

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