Date   : Wed, 26 Sep 2001 10:05:55 +0100
From   : "Richard G. Hallas" <Richard@...>
Subject: Copyright status of BBC ROMs

On 25 Sep Steve Fewell wrote:

> As the Acorn ROMs are now freeware (?)

No; they are not.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but DO NOT make any assumptions
about the copyright status of BBC Basic or any other BBC-related ROMs.
Acorn has gone, but its material is now owned by other companies, and
has NOT automatically become freeware.

The BBC ROMs are now the copyright of Pace Micro Technology, the
company that makes TV set-top boxes and other related products. And
remember that later versions (V, VI) of BBC Basic are still used
within current desktop computer products from various companies in the
RISC OS market, which is another reason for people not to be happy
about these ROMs being considered freeware.

Before anyone asks, I have already made enquiries about obtaining
permission to distribute the BBC ROMs freely for use in emulators.
It /may/ eventually become possible to do this; who knows? But for
the time being, unfortunate though it may be, granting any such
permission would require expensive legal processes at Pace for which
there is currently neither time, money nor inclination.

This is just a warning to clarify the situation, as I don't want to
see people getting into trouble over the illegal distribution of ROMs
(even given that this is less likely now that Acorn itself isn't
around).

DISCLAIMER

I am not an employee of Pace, and I am not speaking for them on any
kind of official basis. I merely made enquiries through a couple of
personal contacts, on behalf of someone who wanted permission to
distributed ROMs, and the answer I received was along the lines of
what I report above. This is all that I currently know, and I'm
unlikely to be able to help anyone any further along these lines.

I'm also not a legal expert, and cannot answer any precise questions
about the distribution of particular products (such as 65Host, which
contains the BBC ROMs). So I regret that I'm not able to help further;
I merely make the above statements to clarify the situation and to
help people avoid potentially getting into trouble.

I'd like to see these BBC ROMs become freely distributable as much as
anyone else, but it's not as clear-cut as people may imagine. Current
computing products are involved, which still make use of elements of
code originating from the BBC (BBC Basic in particular), quite aside
from the question of obtaining necessary legal permissions regarding
distribution.

-- 
Richard
-=-=-=-
Richard G. Hallas  * Writer & Designer *  Editor, Foundation RISC User
Proprietor of KeyNote:  Music Typesetting & General Desktop Publishing
Email: Richard@...        / Richard@...        * Tel/Fax: 01484 460280