Response to Dale Hoogevan's lovely composition regarding copywrite laws:
That was one impressive piece of writing, thankyou.
I think the trouble we're having with software is that it's licensend as a
creative product, like the arts (music, literature, stage, etc) yet
performs like a mechanical product (inventions, etc) and it's copywrite
falls somewhere in between, or at least it's perception does.
Software has not yet been defined completely as a separate entity, we still
think in terms of items we can hold in our hand and lend out versus items
that we hold in our mind the way we do with music.
Now the thing is, we can resell musical copy, as long as the authorship is
clearly credited and we are not making a PROFIT on the sale. One way we
get around this is to find it for far less than the regular retail price
and resell it still less but more than you paid.
Record stores do a booming business this way.
Items on "hardcopy", records, books, scripts, all deteriorate over time,
encouraging the individual to re-purchase it. software copies itself
flawlessly all the time (provided the system is working properly) so there
will never be a necessity to go and purchase the new, retail version, or
write to the copywrite holder for a new copy, etc.
What about books out of print?
But, when it comes to using pieces of that composition without permission,
or altering it, you are breaking the law. technically, you cannot have the
neighborhood children organizing to put on a recently written play for a
nickle a seat without permission from the copywrite holder and even
highschools write for this before putting on a fundraiser play.
This works because a play or a peice of music is not an essential tool for
so many people. We'd all be right annoyed if we couldn't lend out our
hammers and make our own and share them around. we feel about the software
on our computers in much the same way. I think people are much more
accepting of copywrite on games because it is entertainment, than on
operating systems and utilities because it is necessary to our work and
livelihood.
This situation is likely to blossom and grow over the next few decades and
i truly hope we see it resolved sensibly. I'm sure curious to see where it
goes.
bye,
Yolanda
UIN 4898262
http://members.home.net/pippi5
"I want to walk in and plant a bomb in your forehead and walk out. When you
blow a mind it just stetches." -anarkissed, 27/01/99
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