Re: [time-nuts] Data Professionals Press Release
In message 20101212055157.1b3ac11b...@karen.lavabit.com, Charles P. Steinmet z writes: Intellectual property rights do not just evaporate or return to the public domain when a company disappears -- SOMEONE owns them (often someone who bought the assets of the company, perhaps for less than a penny on the dollar). Actually, they do evaporate if nobody defends them. -- Poul-Henning Kamp | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20 p...@freebsd.org | TCP/IP since RFC 956 FreeBSD committer | BSD since 4.3-tahoe Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Data Professionals Press Release
I wrote: Intellectual property rights do not just evaporate or return to the public domain when a company disappears -- SOMEONE owns them Poul replied: Actually, they do evaporate if nobody defends them. Yes and no (under US law). If someone openly and notoriously infringes IP rights for a significant period of time, some remedies may be foreclosed if the rights holder does not have a good explanation for not defending them. But a rights holder almost never loses all rights, and the retained rights are often sufficient to make life at least somewhat uncomfortable for the infringer going forward. Furthermore, any such diminution of rights is not automatic -- one can never be certain of it until a controversy arises and a court renders judgment (i.e., you have to pay to see the rights holder's hand, just as in poker), and this is one of the areas of US IP law where there are significant inconsistencies from one case to the next -- so it is very hard for even experienced practitioners to predict outcomes. Best regards, Charles ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Data Professionals Press Release
In message 20101212110630.e4f6211b...@karen.lavabit.com, Charles P. Steinmet z writes: I wrote: Intellectual property rights do not just evaporate or return to the public domain when a company disappears -- SOMEONE owns them Poul replied: Actually, they do evaporate if nobody defends them. But a rights holder almost never loses all rights, [...] ...provided they can prove that they own them in the first place. -- Poul-Henning Kamp | UNIX since Zilog Zeus 3.20 p...@freebsd.org | TCP/IP since RFC 956 FreeBSD committer | BSD since 4.3-tahoe Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Data Professionals Press Release
But a rights holder almost never loses all rights, [...] Poul wrote: ...provided they can prove that they own them in the first place. Absolutely. As I said, I have no information one way or the other as to whether Data Professionals bought anything from anybody -- and if they did, whether the seller really owned active copyrights, and if so, what exactly they owned and transferred. However, absent any reliable information on that score, one can only speculate -- which doesn't seeem very useful. Best regards, Charles ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Data Professionals Press Release
Actually, Heathkit is not out of business. Check out Heathkit learning systems. -- Sent from ATT Wireless using Mobile Email --Original Message-- From: Charles P. Steinmetz charles_steinm...@lavabit.com To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement time-nuts@febo.com Date: Sunday, December 12, 2010 12:51:53 AM GMT-0500 Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Data Professionals Press Release Perry wrote: Considering that the Heath Company has been out of business for say, 30 years or so, this California Business Plan shows that you momma was right in telling you not to ingest illegal substances. I suppose their next bright idea is to buy rights from Ford for the Edsel. Intellectual property rights do not just evaporate or return to the public domain when a company disappears -- SOMEONE owns them (often someone who bought the assets of the company, perhaps for less than a penny on the dollar). I have no idea whether Data Professionals bought anything from anybody -- or if they did, whether the seller really owned active copyrights, and if so, what exactly they owned. There is an infinity of possibilities, and the only certainty would be the judgment of a court deciding a lawsuit. What we appear to have is someone claiming to hold the rights, and threatening enforcement. Folks can either accept the claim, defy the threat and invite a lawsuit, or bring a preemptive action for declaratory relief -- i.e., make Data Professionals prove that they own the rights. Not likely that anyone who wants to host free downloads will undergo the expense of being the test case (but if you are willing, please be our guest -- otherwise, please stop throwing bombs of ignorance). Best regards, Charles ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Data Professionals Press Release
List, Wrote: Data Professionals of Pleasanton California has purchased the Copyrights and existing inventory of all legacy Heathkit product documentation from Heath Company of Benton Harbor Michigan for an undisclosed amount. The new company will make copies of the original legacy manuals available to the marketplace via its web site and through eBay and PayPal. Considering that the Heath Company has been out of business for say, 30 years or so, this “California Business Plan” shows that you momma was right in telling you not to ingest illegal substances. I suppose their next bright idea is to buy rights from Ford for the Edsel. Regards, Perrier ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Data Professionals Press Release
1. It is unclear whether they actually bought the rights from the real owner who actually had clear title, or just a pile of HC manuals. 2. If they do not have clear title to the manuals, any copyrights to the scanned version is invalid. They can only copyright new material they have added. -John = List, Wrote: Data Professionals of Pleasanton California has purchased the Copyrights and existing inventory of all legacy Heathkit product documentation from Heath Company of Benton Harbor Michigan for an undisclosed amount. The new company will make copies of the original legacy manuals available to the marketplace via its web site and through eBay and PayPal. Considering that the Heath Company has been out of business for say, 30 years or so, this âCalifornia Business Planâ shows that you momma was right in telling you not to ingest illegal substances. I suppose their next bright idea is to buy rights from Ford for the Edsel. Regards, Perrier ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Data Professionals Press Release
Perry wrote: Considering that the Heath Company has been out of business for say, 30 years or so, this California Business Plan shows that you momma was right in telling you not to ingest illegal substances. I suppose their next bright idea is to buy rights from Ford for the Edsel. Intellectual property rights do not just evaporate or return to the public domain when a company disappears -- SOMEONE owns them (often someone who bought the assets of the company, perhaps for less than a penny on the dollar). I have no idea whether Data Professionals bought anything from anybody -- or if they did, whether the seller really owned active copyrights, and if so, what exactly they owned. There is an infinity of possibilities, and the only certainty would be the judgment of a court deciding a lawsuit. What we appear to have is someone claiming to hold the rights, and threatening enforcement. Folks can either accept the claim, defy the threat and invite a lawsuit, or bring a preemptive action for declaratory relief -- i.e., make Data Professionals prove that they own the rights. Not likely that anyone who wants to host free downloads will undergo the expense of being the test case (but if you are willing, please be our guest -- otherwise, please stop throwing bombs of ignorance). Best regards, Charles ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
