Date   : Mon, 17 Oct 2005 11:18:56 +0100
From   : Rob <robert@...>
Subject: Re: Distribution of old software

At 09:50 17/10/2005, David Harper wrote:

>What are the opinions of the people on this list about the sharing of old 
>software? I am thinking of software for the Beeb which, presumably, is 
>still within copyright, but which is otherwise unobtainable, which will 
>never be sold again commercially, and from which no-one would ever expect 
>to make any further profit.
>
>In particular, there have been a few people on the list who have acquired 
>a Master 512 / 80186 co-pro, but do not have the DOS-Plus disks to go with 
>it. The co-pro is (practically) useless without the disks, but there is 
>nowhere you can buy them. I still have a working 512 (actually a 1Mb 
>version), and I have the original disks which are still perfectly good. I 
>could very easily make copies of the disks for others.
[snip]

IANAL but .. I would imagine that any licence that existed for software 
that was bundled with some hardware (as in this example) would allow for 
the transfer of the software along with the hardware on any subsequent 
sale.  i.e., if you've got the board, then you are entitled to run the 
software.  If you've not actually got the software, then I would not expect 
any reasonable interpretation of the licence to prohibit a third party 
making a copy of their own discs to allow you to use your product.

This would almost certainly not apply, however, to making copies of 
standalone software products.  Merely software that is bundled with, and 
tied to, something with a physical existence, and where both software and 
hardware are useless without the other.


Rob.