Path: utzoo!hoptoad!uunet!swlabs!ddsw1!karl
From: karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM ([Karl Denninger])
Newsgroups: alt.next
Subject: Questions on NeXT machine
Keywords: NeXT
Message-ID: <[9.13]karl@ddsw1.alt.next>
Date: 21 Oct 88 21:00:06 GMT
References: <17780@glacier.STANFORD.EDU>
Lines: 34
XPosting-Software: AKCSNet V5.5


With reference to hedrick@athos' article and piracy by universities:

[Short aside:  A university was recently found not liable for a widespread
	       copyright violation which was knowingly committed]

If universities don't regard piracy as "ok", and the college in question
has taken steps to prevent a recurrance, why did they not agree to pay
for the illicitly duplicated copies?

The way I read the decision, you can sue to obtain an injunction which
will prevent _further_ theft.  You cannot do anything at all about
the theft which occurred before you found out (and filed said suit).

Now, if the university in question really did commit an honest
mistake (unlikely, most software has a prominent copyright notice!)
then they should own up to it, pay the author (or publisher) his/her
due, and go about their business.  Instead they went to court, fought
tooth-and-nail, and by God, for the most part prevailed!

I would have to say that pressing your point in a court of law is certainly
"belief in the concept" you are defending.....in this case, the right to
duplicate copyrighted works without compensation (and I would presume for 
resale as well, directly depriving the publisher of income; when was the last 
time anything in your local college bookstore was free?)

I guess the software producers need to contractually enforce these provisions,
and ensure that said contracts are signed before the college is allowed to 
purchase even _one_ copy of said software products...  I do know that I
would want such a contractually enforcable promise in writing for our company 
before delivering any of our intellectual property to an educational 
institution....

-- Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM)