Re: Mecc titles

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

kragen@dnaco.net (Kragen Sitaker) wrote:

>Byron Desnoyers Winmill <wbdesnoy@acs2.acs.ucalgary.ca> wrote:
>
>>Which actually brings up an interesting point: most software is not
>>distributed under the protection of copyrights alone.  It is distributed
>>via a licence agreement.  I believe that many of these licence agreements
>>are actually in defiance of copyright laws, which entitle you to make
>>backup copies, to reverse assemble (I *believe* that Canadian copyright
>>law gives you the right to even modify) software, etc..  But that is not
>>even the worse of it.
>
>I am quite certain that American copyright law gives you the right to
>modify software; it does not prohibit modification of any copyrighted
>work.  (It would be a bad world if a publishing company could keep me
>from writing notes in the margin of a book I bought from them!)  What
>it restricts is the right to make copies, public performances, etc., of
>the copyrighted work -- modified or unmodified -- or works derived from
>it.

That does not seem quite right.  If I buy some sheet music,
I can play the music in public.  If I buy a music album, I
can play it to my friends.  If I by a painting or photo, I can
display it in my (hypothetical) museum.

American copyright law does give you the right to make
archival copies.  For example, if you try to take a wedding
photo, for example, from a professional studio to a film
developer and have them make copies, they will refuse.
That's because the photographer still owns the work.
That's why they won't give you the negatives.

However, you have the right to make an archival copy of
the picture and place it into safe keeping.  The same is
true for software and music.  Note: back to photographs,
this industry tends to ignore this right but it is there and
as long as you do not intend to use the copy (display it,
etc.), you can make one.  At least the software and
music industries clearly recognize this right.

This right does not extend to ftp sites which claim to
"archive" old software because it only extends to an
individual with a use license agreement of some sort
and then you are not supposed to use the copy at all.
That's what the piece of paper that comes with the
software box is.