[NTLK] Anyone know if Silk 2.0.2 is abandonware

[Grant Hutchinson]

>>> Anyone know if Silk 2.0.2 is abandonware?  I have 10 days left on my trial.  And I would like to register it.
>> 
>> I would assume that it can be classified as abandonware, given that Hardy Macia (the author of Silk and the other Catamount Newton titles) passed away in 2013. Also, Kagi (the registration and payment system used for Catamount software products) shut down two years ago.
> 
> The copyright on software would be the same as any other copyrightable work. (yes there is a copyright on software, see Apple vs Franklin)
> 
> Since the software was written after 1980 but before 1998, it should be covered by copyright for 85 years.
> 
> The ownership of the copyright would pass along to the heirs.
> 
> As for abandonware, trademarks can fall due to nonuse and being undefended, but not copyrights. Assuming that something is abandoned and therefore not copyrighted is like finder’s keeper’s, no it’s not.

I completely understand this.

But that's not exactly what I was getting at. To me, "abandonware" is simply a piece of software that has is no longer maintained, supported, or otherwise readily made available by the author. It's a still useful orphan.

I'd love to know if Hardy's heirs have any interest at all in those forgotten software treasures of his.

g.