Re: Some copyright info to think about

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Will Loconto writes ...
> 
> My whole take on this argument can be summed up pretty easily. If the
> software is no longer being published and the platform is no longer being
> made, the software should be freely available for download. Otherwise,
> let's just wait until all the disks of this software deteriorate and
> there are no copies left. If a program is still being published, not just
> being put up for sale by someone with a bunch of copies, then it deserves
> protection. But if there are programs that are never going to be re-
> released for the Apple 2 platform, people should have access to them.

     Your position appears to, pretty closely, parallel that of the
majority.

     Suppose, however, that a seller offers, say, Champions of Krynn for
$14.95 boxed and complete with manuals, etc.. Or, suppose Supper Bunny
boxed and complete with comic book and docs is offered for $7.95?

     These are reasonable prices. If the seller widely advertises and is
prepared to move the wares at such prices, it is fair to say that the
seller is making the software "available".

     In cases such as the above, does the Apple II community have an
interest in requesting that our major archive site delist, for a time,
the software being offered by the seller?

     Obviously, the presence of a disk image on the archive site
promotes interest in the original. Which helps the seller more: the
promotion of interest in the software due to the presence of a disk
image users can try out or the temporary absence of disk image
competition?

     Meanwhile, there are any number of cases where a disk image offers
no competition. The first Apple II Ultima is a good example. No seller
is going to offer original A2 Ultimas at general distribution prices
and, conversely, genuinely interested buyers will be buyers whether or
not an archive maintains a disk image. Many originals which include one
or more large manuals face only weak competition from disk images.

     Anyway, there is some question about simply letting old wares
sellers survive or prosper as best they can. We value Asimov as an
archive and we want sellers of old originals to do well and stay in
business. And, as you have seen, finding an accommodation presents
challenges.



> 
> If using my Ultima disk I make from the image off of Asimov is illegal
> then come get me. Maybe it is violating the literal law, but what am I
> supposed to do if I want to play the California Pacific Computing version
> of Ultima on my Apple 2? Tell me where I can buy it.
>

     From a few owners, but, you would almost certainly not want to pay
the kind of price owners are asking. The copy on Asimov probably runs as
well as the original.

 
> I also had the opportunity today to meet and talk to a programmer from
> the Apple 2 days, who has some of his games on Asimov. I asked him what
> he thought about it. He was actually glad that people could still get his
> programs if they wanted to.

     Of course. Practically any real Apple II programmer would have the
same reaction. When you put months into some game for a publisher, you
do not want the game to be scrapped and forgotten. It's fun to display
Asimov's listing and see your game there.


Rubywand