[Coco] ROM Copyrights... copyrights in general...

[James Ross]

I think you might have misunderstood my point or I didn’t give enough specific details to what my specific point was. 

I inartfully made the counter-argument to “there is something to fear” for either downloading or redistributing specifically original CoCo 1, 2, 3 built in ROMS. This is what the original thread was about and some comments where made insinuating there is a risk involved.   My argument is there is NO risk.  IM(not so)HO ... :)

Perhaps the thread had moved on to “Copyright in general …"  part of the subject and I had not noticed that.

I am not against Copyright law. And I respect the right authors have to make as much money as they possibly can through their work. Amen to that. I am working on my own proprietary software that I plan on using those same laws for protection. 

I am not advocating for Piracy, even though I treated the subject rather flippantly, by the examples I was giving. 

I even agree that an emulator should not be distributed w/ the ROMS unless they have been officially released to the public. However, more out of sticking w/ an accepted norm and/or respect, than legality or fear retribution or of doing something wrong. 

The example you use w/ the lady getting sued for $220,000 for 24 songs … is IMO, comparing apples to oranges too.  Songs from any time-frame that the law covers can still make a profit for the original owner / author / inheritor … CDROM re-re-releases / vinyl is cool again / $1 per song / .05c per play etc... many ways. 

The CoCo ROMS are not making anyone a profit. There is no loss. 

In that case the final judgement is/was seriously wrong. Even if our court system has historically been one of the best in the world, in many cases it often fails miserably, and that is definitely one of them. Somehow they convinced a jury she did that much damage to the music company. Had I been a juror it would have been a hung jury. You don’t pick out one person and make an example of them. That was all about sending a message of fear. They even admit in the rest of the article that approach did not / was not working for them, and if the article is right, they no longer do that (go after individuals).    

Again, I am NOT advocating for Piracy. If it’s still for sale, you should buy it.  Pictures, articles, artistic works, stuff like that (w/ a copyright notice) that are on display, even if not for sale , should not be copied or re-used as your own.  

But as for software that is no longer for sale and no one is making a profit on it, as far as I am concerned it's fair-use / fair-game. Someone would have to point me to successful lawsuit where the software product was truly discontinued / abandoned and someone was sued / punished for distribution or illegal d/l & use.    

In that case I don’t believe it’s unethical / wrong / or stealing to obtain a copy or give away copies of it, even if it is against the law. It's like driving over the speed-limit. It's breaking the law to do it.  But how many people have a conscious issue w/ it?  But that is just my opinion. YMMV

Dennis wrote:
> As for my own old computer articles and software, I have specifically placed
> those in the public domain.

That is great!! I am sure it's greatly appreciated. Too bad most companies / authors can't be bothered to do that.  

James

________________________________________
From: Coco <coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com> on behalf of Dennis Bathory-Kitsz <bathory at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 8, 2017 3:18 AM
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [Coco] ROM Copyrights... copyrights in general...

On Wed, June 7, 2017 8:39 pm, James Ross wrote:
> Is it technically illegal to download and/or distribute copyrighted CoCo ROMs?
> Yes. Is it theoretically possible to get into trouble for doing either? Yes.
> But the chances of that happening are probably sooooo slim, you would have a
> much greater chance at winning the Powerball lottery by yourself.

Intellectual property owners like to teach expensive "lessons" as examples. It
may be unlikely but you would have no defense and the fines can be staggering:
 <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/sep/11/minnesota-woman-songs-illegally-downloaded>

Get permission. Stay legal. You may consider the laws ridiculous, but I dont'.

As a creator of intellectual property (600 articles, 6 books, 1200 musical
compositions, fonts, hundreds of published photographs and videos, many
computer programs), I take the copyright laws seriously and give no quarter to
violators who scoff at those laws. I have issued my share of takedown notices
to those who never even bothered to ask my permission -- which I typically
give generously.

As for my own old computer articles and software, I have specifically placed
those in the public domain.

Dennis



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