Xref: utzoo comp.sys.amiga:15185 comp.sys.misc:1257 comp.sys.ibm.pc:12612 comp.sys.mac:13353 comp.sys.atari.st:7932
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!mcvax!unido!tub!tmpmbx!netmbx!hase
From: hase@netmbx.UUCP (Hartmut Semken)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Copyright notices (was: Shareware? Hah!)
Message-ID: <1464@netmbx.UUCP>
Date: 1 Mar 88 00:19:37 GMT
References: <4815@ihlpg.ATT.COM> <3343@killer.UUCP> <2608@gryphon.CTS.COM> <333@esquire.UUCP> <22977@brunix.UUCP> <21023@bbn.COM> <147@bdt.
Reply-To: hase@netmbx.UUCP (Hartmut Semken)
Organization: netmbx Public Access Unix, Berlin
Lines: 27

In article <147@bdt.UUCP> david@bdt.UUCP (David Beckemeyer) writes:
>There was a company in Germany that started to produce MT C-Shell with
>their own manual, diskettes, and packaging.  German authorities informed
>me that this is perfectly *legal* in Germany, becuase you can't copyright
>anything but "works of art"; and software isn't in this category.
This is positively wrong. It is not (!) legal to copy the work of
someone else.
In fact, it's illegal to copy software at all. You may make up to seven
backup copies of software you buyed, but you must not give any away (for
the case of fire or the like..).

All brain-work is protected under the law of copyright (german:
Uhrheberrecht). Even if somebody deletes the copyright message or
patches the version number (happened with WordStar years ago).
>  Even if they are breaking the law, all we could
>do is attempt to get a court order to force them to stop selling.
Wrong again. That would only be the first thing. 
Even if they would give the copies away for free they _could_ go to jail...

If you ask the right peaople the right question you will get the desired
answer.

hase
-- 
Hartmut Semken, Berlin (West) (*east of West-Germany :-)
hase@netmbx.UUCP
I think, you may be right in what I think you're thinking. (Douglas Adams)