Jim Leonard stated: > >Intellectual Property Rights: In a nutshell: Companies own copyrights >on the images, code, etc. contained in a software program for as long as >they protect them. That means that, as long as a company asks you to >take down that copy of King's Quest from your website, you must do so or >be open to litigation. This is because companies can lose their >intellectual property if they don't enforce it. (For examples, have you >ever asked for a Kleenex when you wanted a tissue? Or have you Xerox'd >something when you were photocopying it? Those words/brands have >slipped into the public domain because their parent companies didn't >enforce their usage properly thirty-odd years ago.)
You're confusing copyrights and trademarks. (Incidentally, IANAL either.) Companies can lose *trademarks* if they don't defend any violations of which they become aware. Copyrights cannot be lost in this manner. See #5 of "10 Big Myths about copyright explained" (http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html). Further more, Kleenex and Xerox are still quite valid trademarks, although they are in danger of becoming public domain. Better examples of lost trademarks are "aspirin" and "escalator." This is why you read the occasional story of Disney threatening to sue a daycare center for using hand-made representations of their characters as decorations. They *have* to defend their trademarks. -- Lee K. Seitz [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
