From: Kim Howe (khowe_at_iinet.net.au)
Date: Mon Aug 11 2003 - 18:29:40 PDT
On Tuesday, August 12, 2003, at 03:02 AM, Paul Miller wrote:
> So back to who orignally OWNS the program. What I
> wonder is: if a business entity owns a program and
> that company dissolves, unless previously/legally
> outlined, who in the company then owns the program or
> does it revert to some kind of public domain (of
> course, the original argument) after a number of
> years. If the company's not around who would collect
> the royalties anyway?
If the company is no longer around, the rights revert to the author.
The software won't become public domain until 50 years after the death
of the author, unless he or she decides to release as such. The proper
way to deal with this is to try to find out if the company is still
around. If not, try to locate the author, and politely ask if he or she
would like to release it as freeware.
Unfortunately the term "Abandonware" is just something that people have
made up. There is no such thing in terms of copyright. If you can't
find the company or author, you don't have the right to copy the
software. It's then up to you to decide if you will respect those the
rights of the author or not. A lot of people try to justify copying
software that fits into this category, but what it really comes down to
is your own conscience. Personally I don't copy software in this
category. Please don't turn this into a big long thread where you
justify doing it. It's up to you, but it isn't legal.
Hope this helps
Kim
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