🚀 go-pugleaf

> After consulting with a lawyer that handles several affairs with me
> for the various computer users groups I am involved with I can make
> this statement with some modicum of knowledge. The distribution of
> ANY copyrighted material by anyone other than the original author or
> if the author has sold his rights to an other paryty then the owner
> of the copyrights, is expressly illegal.

Unless, of course, the judge and/or jury disagrees. The purpose of
U.S. copyright law (in the commerical sphere) is to promote the
spread of knowledge, the "useful arts." By protecting the ownership
of intellectual property, people are able to feel secure that when
they offer their unique work to the public, they are protected. While
I think that distributing any copyrighted item is morally wrong,
distributing something for free, which the copyright owner refuses to
distribute at all, is a boundary condition, legally. That is, if the
art has been published already. Unpublished art is protected
irregardless. The fact is that the courts of this nation do not rule
on copyright in such a cut-and-dried manner as you allude to above,
for better or for worse.

Using old COCO ROM code could very conceivably fall under the
protection of the Fair Use Doctrine. For instance, if somebody here
wanted to write code which duplicates the functional aspects of some
machine's ROMs, disassembling those ROMs and examining the source to
determine its function may not be infringement. (Sega v. Accolade)
This is so even if the copyright owner is still selling the said
code. The Supreme Court has ruled that the effect of the infringement
on the marketability of the copyrighted material is "the single most
important element of fair use." (Harper and Row v. Nation
Enterprises) Since Tandy is not marketing the codes in question, at
all, it isn't a long shot to believe that a court would uphold that
using such codes for non-profit purposes is fair use.

The law is not black and white. While I wouldn't give copies of my
Coco's ROMs away, the question of whether or not it is legal to do so
is up for debate. It's not like giving away a copy of SunOS, a
marketed, supported product.

Larry
--
Lawrence Weeks     | "...when all government... in little as in the
weeksl@cray.com    |  great thing, shall be drawn to Washington as the
-------------------+  centre of all power, it will render powerless
 the checks provided of one government on another and will become as
 venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated."
  -- Thomas Jefferson, 1821