Posted By
JamesC
on 2009-01-30
10:47:50
|  Re: Who ported GEOS to plus/4?
Posted by SVS: However the copyright owner (Maurice R.) did allow official autorization to send a copy of GEOS +4 when any user can demonstrate to have a legal copy of GEOS 1.0 or 2.0 (for C64 then).
The German version of GEOS 64/128 was, at the time, still copyrighted by Berkeley Softworks. The Plus/4 port was not an official Berkeley Softworks product, but a port done by (or authorized by) M&T for the German market. M&T's contract with Berkeley Softworks allowed this, as long as a royalty was paid to Berkeley just as if it was a 64 or 128 version.
The agreement I made with Maurice Randall allows providing a copy of GEOS Plus/4 for a small postage and media charge (Maurice suggested US$5, which is reasonable here in the States) to anyone who sends their GEOS 2.0 disk as proof of ownership. The GEOS 2.0 disk was to be marked (a red mark on a black disk would most likely not be seen unless you knew where to look) before returning it, per Maurice's instructions. No royalties are paid to Maurice Randall under this agreement.
As SVS was the person who converted GEOS Plus/4 to English, I made agreement with Maurice for SVS to handle diskette requests, in addition to myself. In this way, should either SVS or I disappear from the scene, the other could keep GEOS Plus/4 alive... plus it allowed SVS the recognition that he rightfully deserves. 
Once Maurice Randall placed "neutered" copies of GEOS 2.0 on his site, I did the same with GEOS 3.5. This is technically a violation of the agreement with Maurice, but I did email him to notify him that I had done so, and he has not requested their removal.
Posted by Csabo: My 2 cents Canadian on the copyright: first of all, the issue is moot because the software no longer has any commercial value. I mean who's gonna buy it? (Maybe JamesC can elaborate on that one.) Second, basically we all have it (and still don't use it ). I mean once it's on the internet, it's impossible to delete it. Third, if the Plus/4 version is in fact a "user conversion", then the original copyright holder may have legal rights to sue the person who took part of their code, but has no control over the copyright of the resulting product.
Csabo, I've not had a single GEOS 2.0 disk sent to me for proof of ownership. I do not know if SVS has received any, or not.
The arrangement with Maurice Randall takes care of the right to sue. If anyone would exercise that right, it would be Maurice. And under US copyright law, 'commercial value' is not a factor. Here, I can break or remove copy protection for my own use if necessary for the product to work with the hardware available, but it would still be illegal for me to distribute the resulting unprotected software. (I can instruct "how to", I just can't provide it "already done for you".)
This is a tangent to the original discussion: if you post software online, be careful of where the server is located. If your server is based in the US, then your software is subject to US copyright law, as the US-based server is the distribution point. This is why Pirate Bay makes a big deal out of being a Swedish website with Swedish hosting, as they're not subject to US law.
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