Re: Software distribution.

[philipm@beam.com.au]

     >I wish to ask for clarification regarding the posting on UseNet
     >conferences, in an article written by Fredrick Ekman, about Beam 
     >International's official word on the distribution of Melbourne House 
     >products for the Apple II family of computers.
     >
     >In the article (which is quoted in whole following my message
     >without any editing), it said that the old games distributed by 
     >Melhourne House can now be freely distributed without profit.
     >
     >Can someone with authority clarify the company's position before
     >someone infringes the copyright laws ?
     
     Beam's offical position is that we will allow non-profit free 
     electronic distribution of certain software titles for certain 
     machines. This only applies to titles developed by Beam Software and 
     distributed by Melbourne House Publishers. In some cases there will be 
     other parties who have an interest in a given title and permission 
     should be gained from those parties before any distribution.
     
     With regard to the Apple II, the only title involved (and the only one 
     we ever did) is 'The Hobbit'. Since the Tolkien Estate holds all the 
     rights to the Tolkien works, their permission should be sought before 
     distributing this title.
     
     Regards,
     
     Philip Mitchell.
     Technical Director.
     Beam International Pty Ltd.

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