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

Wayne Campbell asa.rand at gmail.com
Thu Jun 8 02:20:51 EDT 2017


I understood your point, Dennis. I am merely taking the position of better
safe than sorry. If we get permission from Microsoft to use/distribute the
coco/dragon ROMs, then there definitely will be no backlash, and no risk.

On Wed, Jun 7, 2017 at 11:02 PM, James Ross <jrosslist at outlook.com> wrote:

> 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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>
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>



-- 
Wayne

The Structure of I-Code
http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/The_Structure_of_I-Code

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