A LOT TO DO ABOUT NOTHING - HEATHKIT MANUALS

[W3DBJ]

There are several precedents I could quote, but I don't want to start a
 flame on the list. I'm sure that the person who bought the rights to the
intellectual property of Heathkit thought he was getting more than he is,
and as I don't know anyone from Data Professionals and don't know their
intentions, I'm not going to comment any further. Rumor has it that one of
the principals of the company has already offered to release some
information back to BAMA, but nothing has transpired as of yet.

Heathkit are to blame here, not the new alledged owners of the intellectual
property, as Heathkit appear to have sold rights to something that can be
legally argued, is to a great extent, not theirs to sell anymore.

I hope no one missunderstands my intention here, it's certainly not to
infringe on the copyright holder's rights in any way. My intent and offer of
FTP is merely within what can be considered to be legally appropriate for
the said material in question, and for the moment is being postponed as the
alleged holder of the material rights has alledgedly recently pledged to
support BAMA and the community. It does not apply to the rights which may
have been transferred from any active copyrights as reported by the
copyright office, relating to material bought by the new owner, merely that
which can no longer be considered as copyright, or that which can be
considered "fair use" under the current legislation. Should the offer of FTP
site be made, it shall follow these principals, and any material for which
there is currently a searchable copyright in effect, will not be permitted,
so as to uphold the rights of Data Professionals.

If the purchaser believed to be assigned all rights for Heathkit manuals
from the company's inception, and it was represented as such by the Heathkit
Corporation, then Data Professionals may have a case against Heathkit that
they may wish to persue, as there are no few copyrights in effect according
 to the Copyright Office. The majority of Heathkit manuals were published
between 1964 and 1977, the original copyright ended in 2005 and does not
appear to have been renewed. If renewed, they would get an automatic 67 year
extension. There are also many manuals not bearing a copyright mark, which
fit into the published prior to the1964 catagory, and since they bear no
 copyright symbol, are considered public domain in their entireity.

>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  From: Terry Muncey
>  To: W3DBJ
>  Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 2:05 PM
>  Subject: Re: A LOT TO DO ABOUT NOTHING - HEATHKIT MANUALS
>
>
>  Darryl, well put, and I still believe that the new "copyright" owner of 
> these manuals has purchased a pig in a poke . . . . Lets see if he wants 
> to put his $2000 to file a copyright infringement Federal Suit to prove a 
> point . . . . I am sure it won't happen.  Kenneth Grimm and his University 
> BAMA site (not his server) most probably has no choice but to pull a line 
> of manuals if served with a supposed copyright holders request to do so . 
> . . . . Universities are very sensitive about copyright issues and are 
> quick on the trigger to pull something if someone writes a cease and 
> desist memo or letter.  There are plenty of avenues for folks to get a 
> manual if they need it.  Let's just see how deep Data Professionals 
> pockets are in moving forward to trying to protect something that hasn't 
> been protected by the "AUTHOR" for the past several decades.
>
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