I have just created an FTP site with all my old mac software. There shouldn't be an issue with copyright infringement as the software is over 25 years old.
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TJ
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TJ
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Vintage Macintosh Software
- Thread starter tjsummers51l
- Start date
Unfortunately, it is copyright infringement unless it was freely-distributable when released, or you have the copyright-holder's permission. Some old Mac software is still purchasable-new today.
(Copyright in the US lasts an insanely long time, even if it isn't registered with the Copyright office.)
(Copyright in the US lasts an insanely long time, even if it isn't registered with the Copyright office.)
Its only a matter of time before one of those guys comes around here with their usual "snip". The site is a great idea, if only it wasn't under copyright.
Yeah, do some hunting, there are websites out there for this type of thing. The 68kmla tries to stay on "the straight and narrow". *PERSONALLY* I have no problem with the concept of "abandonware", but I do understand moderators' wishes to keep even the remotest resemblance of illegality off.
Thank you for the posts and information. To the moderator's of this site. I apologize. I was only trying to be helpful to anyone with an old all in one mac. I was not aware that it could still be under copywrite. Thanks again.
addenda: Thank you, but there's no need for apology, you weren't aware of the situation here at the 68kMLA or the ludicrous extension to the length of copyright protections that have been legislated over the years. Neither was I for that matter, I've posted some content in the scan dumps that I need to re-think in light of the information that netfreak posted below. I was made aware of this by another mod when the issue came up in another thread. Thanks for the help netfreak.
Here is a fabulous bit of news, unfortunately, it might not apply to content that I have unwittingly posted:
French Court: Google Not Liable for Copyrighted Materials on YouTube
Thomas Jefferson, father of the bill of rights, considered copyright to be a necessary evil in a free society. As I understand it from the reading I've done, it was intended to be for a length of time sufficient to protect an author's right to secure income for works published. I'm sure he's rolling over in his grave at the state of copyright protection law today, extending the protection beyond the lifetime of the author. IMHO, of course.
The First U.S. Copyright Law
Search string for those interested, I find the subject fascinating:
"Thomas Jefferson" "copyright protection" length
Be that as it may: we are not Google, who could afford to front legal fees until awarded court costs in the case cited above, and we cannot even afford to lean upon the limits of "fair use," much less push them.
Indeed, even mods who might personally approve of the abandonware concept cannot voice approval of it here at the barracks. This place needs to toe the line legally, so as to preserve the institutional knowledge base we've built up over the past eleven years or so. Google just about anything pre-G5 and what organization's topics show up on the first page of hits? [
] ]'>
It's wonderful to see comrades doing some "self policing" here in the threads, thanks.
jt
Here is a fabulous bit of news, unfortunately, it might not apply to content that I have unwittingly posted:
French Court: Google Not Liable for Copyrighted Materials on YouTube
Thomas Jefferson, father of the bill of rights, considered copyright to be a necessary evil in a free society. As I understand it from the reading I've done, it was intended to be for a length of time sufficient to protect an author's right to secure income for works published. I'm sure he's rolling over in his grave at the state of copyright protection law today, extending the protection beyond the lifetime of the author. IMHO, of course.
The First U.S. Copyright Law
Search string for those interested, I find the subject fascinating:
"Thomas Jefferson" "copyright protection" length
Be that as it may: we are not Google, who could afford to front legal fees until awarded court costs in the case cited above, and we cannot even afford to lean upon the limits of "fair use," much less push them.
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Indeed, even mods who might personally approve of the abandonware concept cannot voice approval of it here at the barracks. This place needs to toe the line legally, so as to preserve the institutional knowledge base we've built up over the past eleven years or so. Google just about anything pre-G5 and what organization's topics show up on the first page of hits? [
] ]'>It's wonderful to see comrades doing some "self policing" here in the threads, thanks.
jt
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html
See above. It lasts a LONG time. Depending on how you distribute, you may never encounter a complaint from the original author. It will always be a possibility though.
See above. It lasts a LONG time. Depending on how you distribute, you may never encounter a complaint from the original author. It will always be a possibility though.
Software is different, and there was an exception in 2006 signed into the DMCA by the Library of Congress specifically for "abandonware."
As of 2010, however, Sonly officially retired the floppy disk and stopped all manufacturing. So basically any software sold on a 3.5 and 5.25 floppy disk (and only on a floppy disk) would be OK to archive. Everything else is vorboten. There may be some gray area between archiving the floppy disk version of software, but not the CD version.
It is still illegal to distribute copyrighted software, even old software, but it is not illegal to make accessible an archive of preserved software; provided it meets the above requirements. Pretty much anything that was released on a CD does not qualify. CDs are both still manufactured and reasonably available in the commercial market.
As of 2010, however, Sonly officially retired the floppy disk and stopped all manufacturing. So basically any software sold on a 3.5 and 5.25 floppy disk (and only on a floppy disk) would be OK to archive. Everything else is vorboten. There may be some gray area between archiving the floppy disk version of software, but not the CD version.
