Re: Net piracy?

[irsman@iastate.edu (Ian Schmidt)]

In article <30eaeg$5un@bmerha64.bnr.ca> jeffr@bmerha2a.bnr.ca (Jeffrey Robertson) writes:

>Right, but remember it's up to them to complain when the copyright is
>violated.  They don't have to voice an opinion one way or the other
>before that happens, and neither does a archiver (aka pirate) have to
>look for one before pressing the CD.  It makes sense to try and get
>the holder's permission before including the program, but I don't think
>the law requires it.  On a pragmatic level, one can only spend so much
>time looking for something that might very well not exist.

Yes, but it's probably best not to include something unless a full-scale
reasonable search has been made to secure permission.  Then if the
author/copyright holder(s) can't be found, you at least can document
that you tried lest they unexpectedly appear later.

>Yup.  You're ahead of me there.  Where can I get a hold of the IEEE document?
>Does this document reflect existing law, or is it just a "would be nice"
>opinion paper?

I would guess that IEEE has it ;)  Seriously, I got my copy from our
university library, I don't think regular ones would have IEEE
documents.   The document basically reviews a few existing cases and has
guidelines for copyrighting software, firmware, etc, etc.

>Actually, this would seem to prove _my_ point.  A lawsuit implies the
>law of torts, doesn't it?  I mean, you don't sue over theft per se, you
>sue over the effect of the theft.  So basically, these people were suing
>over a copyright infringement.  This was a civil suit, not a criminal one,
>right?

I don't quite grok this, I'll let Jawaid handle it :)

-- 
Ian Schmidt / irsman@iastate.edu / irsman@cs.iastate.edu / BAZ IS RIGHT!!!