Author: Mike Byrne
Date: 15:46:57 02/16/03
Go up one level in this thread
On February 16, 2003 at 15:00:46, Robert Pawlak wrote:
>Mike,
>
>I think selling the CDs is legal, as long as the code for creating the files is
>not sold along with them. Otherwise, how would Bob and the others offer the
>files for free download?
>
>Just my 2 cents....
>
>Bob
Hi Bob,
Bob and others that have offered the EGTB for download have permission. Without
permission of the copyright holder, it's not legal to SELL the EGTB for any
price. I would think that if someone offered the EGTB on CD's for a nominal
cost (no profit), Eugene might allow that - but the seller would need to ontain
permission BEFORE putting on eBay or a website - those are the rules. But he
(Eugene Nalimov) is the copyright holder and it his choice on the EGTB is
distributed - nobody_else's.
Current US Copyright law provide for penalities of $150,000 per infringment - so
this is not path someone tread lightly. Legally, the person who holds the
copyright to a intellectual property has the absolute right to control how you
use that intellectual property -- or to deny you the right to use that
intellectual property at all.
"Intellectual Property" issues are different from a lot of things in the rest of
the world. ("Intellectual Property" is how the law describes things like books,
poems, symphonies, photos and chess endgame databases.) In the rest of the
world, if somebody thinks you stole something, they have to prove you did. In
the world of "copyright infringement", you have to prove that you did not.
Copyright laws exist to encourage people to be creative by giving them the right
to control -- and benefit from -- the products of that creativity. Because it's
so easy these days for one person to "steal" the creative output of somebody
else, lawmakers have recognized that for copyright laws to be effective, they
must have real teeth.
If copyright infringement resulted in nothing but a slap on the wrist, there are
unfortunately those who would say to themselves, "If I get caught, I'll just pay
the fine and consider it a cost of doing business." Lawmakers in the US have
figured that $150,000.00 -- the maximim fine that can be awarded per
infringement -- is a figure large enough to discourage that attitude in most
people.
Michael
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