Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site decwrl.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!think!harvard!bbnccv!bbncca!wanginst!decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-viking!wasser
From: wasser@viking.DEC (John A. Wasser)
Newsgroups: net.legal,net.sources.mac
Subject: Is a Shareware license enforceable?
Message-ID: <27@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 16-Dec-85 13:39:15 EST
Article-I.D.: decwrl.27
Posted: Mon Dec 16 13:39:15 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 19-Dec-85 04:06:13 EST
Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Lines: 47
Xref: watmath net.legal:2639 net.sources.mac:788


		Is a Shareware License Enforceable?
 
At lunch today some friends and I were discussing the legality of "Limited 
License Freely Distributed" software (a.k.a. Shareware or Freeware).  The 
general consensus was that when a piece of software is legally given to a member
of the public (either on a disk or through a network), time limited clauses
such as "You may use this software for up to 30 days after receiving it but 
must at that time either send a registration fee or delete all copies" have 
no legal validity.  The thought is that since the software was provided 
free it has the same status as any unsolicited merchandise given to you 
freely.  It is yours and as long as any COPYING is restricted to the limits 
imposed by the copyright owner (usually "Distribute to anyone as long as not 
for commercial gain") you cannot be forced to give up use of it.  You have 
a legally obtained copy and the right to use it for your own purposes.

Remember: Copyright only covers copying.  It does not give the copyright
holder any rights to compensation for a work which he has chosen to give
away.  If the Encyclopedia Britanica people were to send you a copy of
their encyclopedia for a 30 day free trial, and you have not asked for
such a trial, you are not obligated to pay for the encyclopedia.

One possible legal point is a clause in such "licenses" that requires
that if you make a copy and give it to someone (as allowed by the
copyright owner) you must first make sure the recipient knows about
the license he is (supposedly) getting into.  Can the copyright owner
legally require you to pass on this "contract/license" as part of the
restrictions of the copyright?  Is the "contract/license" binding on
the recipient?

Does anyone out there know if such a license is enforceable?  I don't want 
to get into a discussion about WHETHER the license SHOULD or SHOULD NOT be 
enforceable, only whether it IS under current laws.

		-John A. Wasser

Work address:
ARPAnet:	WASSER%VIKING.DEC@decwrl.ARPA
Usenet:		{allegra,Shasta,decvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-viking!wasser
Easynet:	VIKING::WASSER
Telephone:	(617)486-2505
USPS:		Digital Equipment Corp.
		Mail stop: LJO2/E4
		30 Porter Rd
		Littleton, MA  01460