[sebhc] Internet Archive Gets Exemption re:Vintage Software

Mark Garlanger garlangr at verizon.net
Wed Aug 18 22:01:20 CDT 2004


Hi Jack,

Although I'm not an author of any of this old software, I think you nailed
it.  It's only to allow you to circumvent any type of copy-protection on
those works for non-infringing uses. Copyright have been retroactively
extended since at least 1976. Each time adding 20 years to the copyright
so that no copyrighted work will ever fall into public domain again.

The DMCA is especially bad, enough if what you want to do has 'fair-use'
precendence, you are NOT allowed to do it if the author used 'encryption'
to protect their work.

Say, you just bought the new 'Barney' DVD for you 5 year-old. He/She's
quite independent and can usually get the DVD in the player without problem
but you would rather have them use a < $1 DVD-R backup copy of the movie
instead of the $20 original in case the kid destroys the disk. Well since
the DVD
is encrypted you can NOT LEGALLY make a copy of that DVD.

The DMCA has taken away all fair-use of copyright works that use 'technology
that effectively controls access to a copyrighted work.' Since this is SO
over the
top, they are allowing people to petition to be able to circumvention the
access
control (i.e. legally crack the encryption) in very narrowly defined areas.
See
#4. E-books for the blind - bet that was a hard one for them to agree to.

This ruling doesn't have any application to 'infringing' uses. And even if
the work
has been seemingly abandoned, you still can't have legal access to it.

            Mark

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jack Rubin" <jack.rubin at ameritech.net>
To: <sebhc at sebhc.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 9:21 PM
Subject: RE: [sebhc] Internet Archive Gets Exemption re:Vintage Software


> Eric,
>
> Interesting article - took a while to realize it was written in English.
> Anyhow...the exemption speaks to "non-infringing use". How do you
> interpret that?
>
> To me, it means that one is allowed to defeat copy-protection schemes
> (or ignore legal statements prohibiting copying?) to create personal
> backups, transfer to other media by the owner of the original media,
> etc. I don't think it changes anything in our ability to share or
> distribute software, regardless of media. If a work is protected by a
> valid copyright, distribution on different media without permission is
> not "non-infringing". An item doesn't become public domain simply
> because the media on which it exists is obsolete.
>
> Maybe some of the software authors on the list can provide their
> perspective.
>
> Jack
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: sebhc at sebhc.org [mailto:sebhc at sebhc.org] On Behalf Of
> > Eric J. Rothfus
> > Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 8:54 PM
> > To: sebhc at sebhc.org
> > Subject: [sebhc] Internet Archive Gets Exemption re:Vintage Software
> >
> >
> > A message was just posted on a CoCo (TRS80 Color Computer)
> > mailing list regarding the copyrights of vintage software.
> > I've reviewed the web-site referenced and it appears to be
> > VERY applicable for 5 1/4" media users, particularly those
> > with hard sectors :-)...
> >
> > This site details the important exceptions to the
> > Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that apply to vintage
> > works.  Check it out:
> >    http://www.archive.org/about/dmca.php
> > this links to:
> >    http://www.copyright.gov/1201/docs/librarian_statement_01.html
> > So you may want to go there directly.
> >
> > Eric
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------
> > From: Allen Huffman <alsplace at pobox.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Coco] Internet Archive Gets Exemption
> > re:Vintage Software
> > Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 20:09:09 -0500
> > To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> >
> > On Aug 16, 2004, at 10:27 AM, Robert Emery wrote:
> >
> > > Some of you probably have seen this already.
> > > I just found it interesting and thought I'd share:
> > > http://www.archive.org/about/dmca.php
> >
> > So does a 5 1/4" floppy (no longer made) or a ROM pak count?
> >
> > Allen
> >
> >
> > - -- 
> > Coco mailing list
> > Coco at maltedmedia.com http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco
> > ------- End of forwarded message -------
> >
> > --
> > Delivered by the SEBHC Mailing List
> >
>
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