Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (March 1997)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Sun, 30 Mar 1997 16:07:59 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         bill <bill@freeholder.com>
Subject:      Re: Copyright Free For All: Re: Vanagon "Journeys under difficult

If I were you, I'd be very careful with this. Even assuming only financial damage is covered, a contention that they *intended* to sell it again at some undefined future point would make you liable.

Aside from that, there is the moral issue. Stealing is not OK just because you think you can get away with it. Could I steal a candy bar from my local convenience store and get away with it? Probably. Whether I get away with it or not, it would still be wrong.

Copyright and patent laws protect "intellectual" property from theft. There seems to be a growing idea that these are not important, but I guess I'm just not locked into the material world well enough to believe that the things I make with my hands are protected from theft, but the things I make with my mind are free for the taking.

At 10:30 AM 3/30/97 -0600, you wrote: >They cannot sue you for copyright infringement unless you cause financial >damage to them. Since they are not offering this old document for sale, you >can safely copy and redistribute it at will since you are not causing harm >to a revenue stream that they are otherwise likely to get. > >Copyright only applies when there is financial damage. In the absence of >demonstrated financial damage, they cannot collect. Everybody keep this in >mind, and copy stuff as much as you like, especially stuff that is no longer >for sale from the manufacturer. My guess is, it is probably safe to copy >everything but the Bentley manuals.


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.