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From: oyster@uwmacc.UUCP (Vicarious Oyster)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Magazine programs
Message-ID: <811@uwmacc.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 6-Jan-87 11:20:58 EST
Article-I.D.: uwmacc.811
Posted: Tue Jan  6 11:20:58 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 6-Jan-87 23:11:12 EST
References: <8701051324.AA00521@ncsc.ARPA> <8211@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Reply-To: oyster@unix.macc.wisc.edu.UUCP (Vicarious Oyster)
Organization: UW-Madison Academic Computer Center
Lines: 37

In article <8211@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> appelbau@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU writes:
>Both START and Compute ST have copyrights on thier magazines and
>software. They are not public domain programs.

   So in the strictest sense, one cannot copy the programs onto magnetic
(or any other) media, even if one purchases the magazine?  That's OK, you
say?  Well, what if I own the magazine with diskette?  Clearly, I have
purchased the program(s), and can execute them from that diskette.  But
frequently, the publishers pack a whole bunch of code/programs on the
things, and I need to copy (ooh! there's that word!) them onto another
diskette in order to conveniently run the things (and besides, I like using
DS diskettes or a hard disk)?  That's OK, you say?  Well, what if a colleague
owns the magazine, but not the diskette; can he get a copy of my diskette,
or at least one program from the diskette?  That is verboten, you say?
What about the user's group which has a single subscription to both
STart and Compute ST, and puts the diskettes in the member diskette
library; can they only execute the programs from the original diskette?
   What I'm trying to get at is that there seems to be a large gap between
the strict legal sense of the two domains.  I suspect that the publishers
would not wish the copyright to be absolutely adhered to in the sense of
the first two examples above.  The third and fourth are a bit more
questionable.  And I would assume that they don't want anybody who doesn't
own the particular issue to be using the programs from that issue, though
again, I may be wrong.  The only way to know for sure would be to ask them.
Merely stating that the programs are copyrighted, and hence not public
domain, may very well be correct, but it isn't sufficient to answer the
questions posed.
--

 - Joel Plutchak
   uucp: {allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!oyster
   ARPA: oyster@unix.macc.wisc.edu
   BITNET: plutchak@wiscmacc

Disclaimer:
My employer isn't smart enough to have an opinion, and I just *barely* am.
The above is therefore my opinion, but just barely.