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Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!steinmetz!ge-dab!codas!killer!elg
From: elg@killer.UUCP (Eric Green)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Software (and other kinds of) copying
Message-ID: <3161@killer.UUCP>
Date: 31 Jan 88 06:56:16 GMT
References: <6526@oberon.USC.EDU>
Organization: Bayou Telecommunications
Lines: 38

in article <6526@oberon.USC.EDU>, papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa) says:
> In article <886@xn.LL.MIT.EDU> olsen@ll-xn.UUCP (Jim Olsen) writes:
>>If I copy a program which I would never pay for, the copyright holder
>>loses nothing, since he wouldn't get any money from me anyway.  In such
>>a situation, the copying is illegal, but I would not consider it immoral.
> 
> This is exactly one of the cases in which "registering" with the 
> copyright office makes a difference.  If you do NOT register your work 
> with the copyright office, you can only collect "actual" damages, which
> in the above case is $0.   If you register your work with the copyright
> office WITHIN 3 MONTHS from publication you can ask for "statutory" 
> damages, which are decided in court and have NO set limit.

About 6 months ago, I looked at the appropriate part of the U.S. Code.
"actual" damages apparently are based upon how much the publisher would have
recieved by actually selling the copyrighted material. Statutory damages DO
have a set limit: $10,000 per occurance, with a $50,000 cap for blatant
offenses. Or some such numbers. Note that these are a PER INCIDENT fine (there
is a minimum fine, also). If you have a company that made 1,000 copies of
Lotus 1-2-3, that company may be liable for $10,000,000 in fines (as vs. the
$500,000 they'd be assessed in "actual" damages). Also note that there are two
routes: Civil (you file suite against the infringer), and criminal (a U.S.
prosecuter asks for indictment). There's also other assorted goodies that the
judge can order: Siezure of all involved equipment and goods, for example.

Conclusion: The copyright law may be one of the laughs of the century, but if
someone finds a big offender, we're talking big bucks.

Caveats: My photocopies of the relevant sections are buried in boxes from when
we moved, so you're spared the long & gory details. Needless to say, REGISTER
the program, if you want to protect the various rights associated with
copyright...  

--
Eric Lee Green  elg@usl.CSNET     Asimov Cocktail,n., A verbal bomb
{cbosgd,ihnp4}!killer!elg              detonated by the mention of any
Snail Mail P.O. Box 92191              subject, resulting in an explosion
Lafayette, LA 70509                    of at least 5,000 words.