It seems that 'free' downloads of Heathkit manuals are no longer available! Copyright issues.

[brad]

It seems a fellow by the name of Don Peterson is the owner of Professionals
of Pleasanton, CA. It seems he worked at Heathkit as a tech. Hope this
helps. I did send along a note to make him aware of the need for manuals.
Brad KB2CHY

-----Original Message-----
From: Heathkit Owners and Collectors List [mailto:HEATH at LISTS.TEMPE.GOV] On
Behalf Of Mike Bryce
Sent: Saturday, December 13, 2008 13:01
To: HEATH at LISTS.TEMPE.GOV
Subject: Re: [HEATH-TEMPE] It seems that 'free' downloads of Heathkit
manuals are no longer available! Copyright issues.

I am not a lawyer and I don't have any real knowledge of legal stuff.

but that being said, it seems to me that copyrights and even patents  
expire.

does anyone really own the rights to a manual that is 40+ years old?
especially since it has been in the public domain for so long. Yes, I  
know heathkit still owns (did own) the right to their own stuff, but  
has never in all mine time, never raised a finger to protect it's  
copyright.

mike

Mike, WB8VGE
SunLight Energy Systems
The Heathkit Shop
http://www.theheathkitshop.com/
J e e p
o|||||||o

A man with one clock knows what time it is. A man with two clocks is  
never sure.




On Dec 13, 2008, at 10:16 AM, Robert Groh wrote:

Ladies and gentleman, it looks like our access to copies of Heathkit
manuals has come up to a thundering halt. I first noticed something
amiss when I tried to find a Heathkit manual on BAMA and, strange to
note, there was no 'Heath' in the index!  And no contents on the one
old link I had to a manual.  "Very strange", thought I, "maybe the site
is busted".

Then, just a couple of minutes ago, I saw an email on another forum a
Heathkit manual and directions to go to the Tech Systems site and there
is where I found the following notice:

"On October 30, 2008, Data Professionals of Pleasanton, CA purchased
the Intellectual property of the Heathkit legacy products from Heathkit
in Benton Harbor, Michigan.  This rights to these legacy products also
includes the copyright. All free manuals have been removed from this
site in compliance with copyright laws. "

So no downloads on the Tech Systems site and that is probably what
happened on the BAMA site also. Super bummer! And I imagine this will
impact the manual copying business also. Haven't checked any of the
manual vendors.

73 (in grief and sorrow)
Bob, WA2CKY

-----------------------------------------------------------
Products bought, sold or traded here is the responsibility of the
parties involved.  This list and the City of Tempe are not responsible
for losses or misrepresentations of any kind.  Buyer beware!

-----------------------------------------------------------
This list is a public service of the City of Tempe, Arizona
-----------------------------------------------------------

Subscription control - http://www.tempe.gov/lists/control.aspx?list=HEATH
To post - HEATH at LISTS.TEMPE.GOV
Archives - http://lists.tempe.gov/archives/HEATH.html

-----------------------------------------------------------
Products bought, sold or traded here is the responsibility of the
parties involved.  This list and the City of Tempe are not responsible
for losses or misrepresentations of any kind.  Buyer beware!

-----------------------------------------------------------
This list is a public service of the City of Tempe, Arizona
-----------------------------------------------------------

Subscription control - http://www.tempe.gov/lists/control.aspx?list=HEATH
To post - HEATH at LISTS.TEMPE.GOV
Archives - http://lists.tempe.gov/archives/HEATH.html