[Coco] The dire condition of software documentation.

[James Jones]

It's not just most people; it's the Constitution. "[The Congress shall have
power] to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing *for
limited times* to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their
respective writings and discoveries.”

I commend to everyone's attention Spider Robinson's "Melancholy Elephants",
and point out that there are probably similar limits on categories of
games, algorithms, and data structures.
http://www.spiderrobinson.com/melancholyelephants.html

On Tue, Aug 13, 2019 at 6:28 AM Francis Swygert <farna at att.net> wrote:

> As Gene noted, Disney and other large commercial organizations that depend
> on copyrighted material lobbied (and continue to do so) for the draconinan
> copyright laws we now have. The only change I thought a good idea is when
> they stopped requiring you to register for a copyright -- just put a notice
> in your work and it's automatic.
>
> The time limit is what most have an issue with. I have no problem with it
> being basically unlimited -- as long as it is in use/available for sale.
> could be a corporation, the original author, or their estate. As long as it
> is a viable product in use by a copyright holder it should be protected. If
> the law were changed with an "in use" or "five years after use or
> commercial availability ceases" clause it seems it would do it's job of
> protecting the copyright holder without undue stress. "Available" can be
> from a website by the author or publisher. Don't have to have sold any in
> five years or more, just listed and made available if ordered. On demand
> publishing or even just as a PDF file would easily cover that today. Mickey
> Mouse would be safe, and hobbyists like the CoCo community would also.
>
> Honestly, there is little danger of being sued in the CoCo world simply
> because it's been so long few (if any) care. There are a few, and everyone
> I know of in the community respects those wishes when they ask that their
> rights be respected and copies not distributed. Truth is there are so many
> copies out there already that it's next to impossible to uphold any rights,
> but that doesn't mean we should blatantly abuse them.
>
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