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#Individual FF Disks
7 messages in this thread
Yes, you can make money from selling PD software. It is fairly labor and
capital intensive. You can dupe the disks at order time, or have someone
else dupe them, but it entails a fair amount of up-front investment what
with disk prices at about a dollar each. Add handling and shipping, and I
don't know if you should call this margin a "profit", but certainly a lot
of people are doing it. I make the AMICUS disks. I did this for two
reasons: one, I wanted to promote the Amiga, and I knew PD disk sales could
fuel the startup of many user groups. Two, I wanted to promote myself and
get my name known. Both tactics worked. If the software is truly PD, then
you can do anything you want with it, including removing the names and
calling it your own. Intellectual copyright laws are established by
precedent, and the such terms as "shareware" and "public domain as long as
you don't sell it for more than $X" are meaningless in current law. Most
software isn't even copyrighted correctly, so its legal status is
questionable – until tested in the courts, as with any copyright.
So what about legalities? we're talking morality! Your first several goals
seem to me to be "fine" – promoting of the Amiga, etc. Plus it's a fantastic
way to get good software into the hands of those who don't have modems or
belong to users groups. And I've noticed lots of "busy bee librarian" types
who have no use or interest in the actual software itself, but enjoy having
to collect, catalogue, and label it all. I'd MUCH rather see them do it with
PD software than with commercial software….
But, I'm not too sure about selling PD software for money. I'm not against
it or for it, I'm in the "thinking" stage.
By the way, can we get Amy Report on the Amicus and Fred Fish collections?
how does one go about doing that?
So what about legalities? we're talking morality! Your first several goals
seem to me to be "fine" – promoting of the Amiga, etc. Plus it's a fantastic
way to get good software into the hands of those who don't have modems or
belong to users groups. And I've noticed lots of "busy bee librarian" types
who have no use or interest in the actual software itself, but enjoy having
to collect, catalogue, and label it all. I'd MUCH rather see them do it with
PD software than with commercial software….
But, I'm not too sure about selling PD software for money. I'm not against
it or for it, I'm in the "thinking" stage.
By the way, can we get Amy Report on the Amicus and Fred Fish collections?
how does one go about doing that?
John, A bit of a correction…ALL software is copyrighted by the author the
moment he distributes it, even if the author places the software in the
Public Domain, the author still owns the copyright…the author has merely
relinquished any rights he may have had for infringment.
A piece of software that expressly states "copyright by xxxx 19xx" can ONLY
be distributed in accordance with the author's wishes. If the author also
makes the software 'freely re-distributable', then it may be distributed
for no profit (copying costs are acceptable) by anyone without specific
permission from the author. It may NOT be modified, or included in a
commercial program without specific permission from the author.
You do NOT need to even include a copyright notice under US law, let alone
register it with the government for a copyright to be valid, all adding the
notice does is make it easier to prosecute a violation. Same goes for
registration, it simply makes it easier to prosecute by establishing a copy
of the software as of a certain date from a specific individual so that in
the future, establishing which was first, or what algorithms are being
used, etc. are easier to prove.
Another advantage of registration is that, should there be legal action, if
the registered copyright holder can be awarded more than actual damages. If
the copyright is not registered the award can be for actual damages only.
Another advantage of registration is that, should there be legal action, if
the registered copyright holder can be awarded more than actual damages. If
the copyright is not registered the award can be for actual damages only.
John, A bit of a correction…ALL software is copyrighted by the author the
moment he distributes it, even if the author places the software in the
Public Domain, the author still owns the copyright…the author has merely
relinquished any rights he may have had for infringment.
A piece of software that expressly states "copyright by xxxx 19xx" can ONLY
be distributed in accordance with the author's wishes. If the author also
makes the software 'freely re-distributable', then it may be distributed
for no profit (copying costs are acceptable) by anyone without specific
permission from the author. It may NOT be modified, or included in a
commercial program without specific permission from the author.
You do NOT need to even include a copyright notice under US law, let alone
register it with the government for a copyright to be valid, all adding the
notice does is make it easier to prosecute a violation. Same goes for
registration, it simply makes it easier to prosecute by establishing a copy
of the software as of a certain date from a specific individual so that in
the future, establishing which was first, or what algorithms are being
used, etc. are easier to prove.