20 Jun
2010
20 Jun
'10
9:17 p.m.
On 20 Jun 2010 at 22:36, Keith wrote:
I don't want to digress here unnecessarily. And
my viewpoint might
not be popular. There's a large portion of the software that is
abandonware, companies are defunct, IP isn't owned by anyone. Where
there is an IP owner, they are not likely to be aware of, care, or
spend time/energy/money trying to enforce those rights.
As Fred said, no such thing as abandonware. But take heart,
something that was copyrighted in 1990 will be public domain in 2085,
if Disney doesn't get the term extended.
One runs into this all of the time with sheet music. Something
published in 1924 is *still* under copyright protection, with the
owner having no obligation to republish. Some publishers have now
offered to furnish POP (permanently out of print) scores for a fee,
but you don't want to know what that fee is.
The law is what it is. Live with it or get it changed.
--Chuck