[Coco] Copyrighted ROMs

[Dennis Bathory-Kitsz]

On Wed, November 14, 2018 1:54 pm, rietveld rietveld wrote:
> I have to admit that I was both hurt and shocked to read the first response to
> my posted question
>
> I was simply inviting opinions on the best way to distribute the software I
> wrote for the cocoflash. I made creating a ‎fully programmed multi ROM PAK as
> easy as mounting the data disks and pressing (enter) on the keyboard.
> The end result is a 100 in 1 rompak that replicates all 100 rom paks on a
> single easy to use unit
>
> The initial response, as well as the subsequent one, lead me to believe that
> my contribution to this creation is both unwanted and unnecessary.
>
> With that I will just walk away from this project so as not to offend those
> who seem bothered by it

I hope you don't mean me. My point, made briefly because I'm teaching today,
is that this is risky if there's even one person willing to pursue the
copyright violation. Stay out of the packaging business of others' material
but DO distribute your own.

Hobbyist use is often ignored as trivial -- until you run up against somebody
who sees money in retro products.

Remember that copyright isn't itself about money, which is why 'making no
profit' does not license use of copyrighted material. Copyright is the only
right embedded into the body (not the amendments) of the US constitution (Art
1 Sec 8). It has a long history and is one of the keys to our prosperity and
imagination as a culture.

(And, to reiterate, I placed *all* my computer software in the public domain
quite a while ago.)

Dennis