Re: Copyright issues

Billion-dollar business??????? On Tue, 22 Apr 1997, Timothy M. Hood wrote: } Mike Jagdis <mike@roan.co.uk> wrote: } } >Andrej Falout said } > } >>Does Informix have the right to force me not to make copies of } >>software they wont sell? } > } >Yes. Only the copyright owner has the right to make copies - unless } >you have a license from them that explicitly allows you this privilege. } >Informix' copyright on what you have will expire sometime in the } >middle of the 21st century, if that helps :-). } > } } >I know the law. But, do you thin[k] that anyone has the right to make } >somebody's business dependable on there product, after 3 years stop } >selling it and than ask them to pay again for it, and for all } >additional expenses, like code rewrite, new hardware, and so on. } } Unfortunately, this happens all of the time. This logic holds no legal } ground. It's like wanting to make Volkswagen liable to you if you open } up a VW bug repair shop and then they stop making those cars. } } >This sounds like blackmail to me. } } For a number of reasons which would be out-of-scope to discuss here, } this is clearly not blackmail. The least of which is that Informix is } not inducing you to continue to purchase their products. } } >What if Informix will stop existing, let's say, they declare } >bankruptcy? } } Article 18 of the Copyright Law states: } } When an author is dead or dissolved, the protection of the author's } moral right in a work shall be deemed as if the author is still alive or } exists such that no one may infringe upon the right. } } This clearly shows that Informix Software does not necessarily give up } their copyrights if they were to go bankrupt. (Also, keep in mind that } billion dollar businesses don't go bankrupt--they get purchased!) :) } } However, Article 18 continues: } } Nevertheless, if according to the nature and degree of the act of such } other person, social changes, or other situations, such act is not } deemed against the author's intent, such act shall not constitute an } infringement. } } Here it states that your case against infringement would depend on the } author's (Informix's) intent of how it's copyrighted work is to be used. } } There is much more Copyright Law that could be brought into discussion } here, but it detracts from the main issue of your problem. Clearly your } best bet is to contact Informix regarding this matter. Their standard } license is just that--standard. They have made and will make special } changes for special cases. } } Tim }