Re: Apple II Reference Manual ("Red Book")

[pausch@saafNOSPAM.se (Paul Schlyter)]

In article <8dftnu$975$1@slb7.atl.mindspring.net>,
Andy McFadden <fadden@netcom.com> wrote:
 
> In article <8dfbam$e1d$1@merope.saaf.se>,
> Paul Schlyter <pausch@saafNOSPAM.se> wrote:
>> OK -- let's for the sake of the discussion imagine that someone
>> posted cans of that "Red Book" without having obtained the proper
>> permission.  Next, assume Apple hears about this, and doesn't like
>> it.  Do you think Apple would sue?  I think that would be very
>> unlikely.  What would Apple gain from such an action?  Very little,
>> since the copyrighted work no longer has any commercial value.  What
>> would they lose?  They'd gather a lot of bad-will, and could easily
>> lose a lot of customers.
> 
> This gets into some rather speculative ethical issues.  Like, if I shoot
> somebody unpopular, and nobody wants to prosecute me, is what I did
> wrong?
 
Depends on your values.  Was it wrong to try to blow Adolf Hitler to
pieces a few years before the end of WW II ????  Of course, when trying
to kill people like that, those who want to take revenge on you won't
bother to prosecute -- they'll just kill you or torture you, if
they can.
 
 
> I think you'll run into trouble if you start evaluating actions
> based primarily on whether or not you'll be prosecuted.
> 
> OTOH, I believe you're correct that Apple has no interest in the material
> itself.  A re-issue would have little value.
 
Which is the main point really.  If you break the copyright of
something which has lost all commercial value, and which not even the
creator is interested in anymore, and if you, in addition, runs
little risk of being prosecuted for it, you must have the mind of a
die-hard lawyer if you want to claim it's wrong solely because it's
technically illegal.
 
 
In case someone wonders, I just want to point out the obvious: to
break the copyright of something which still has value, and which the
copyright owner still has interet in, that isn't merely technically
illegal, but also ethically wrong.  And if you do that, you'll run
a non-negligible risk of being sued -- which of course is as it
should be.
 
 
Of course the value of the copyrightesd stuff and the risk of being
sued if you break the copyright are related: if it's not worth
anything no-one will bother to sue, but if it's worth a lot people
will be very eager to sue.
 
-- 
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