[Info-vax] VAX VMS going forward

[Simon Clubley]

On 2020-07-20, Arne Vajhøj <arne at vajhoej.dk> wrote:
> On 7/20/2020 8:33 AM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>> On 2020-07-17, Terry Kennedy <terry-groups at glaver.org> wrote:
>>> I have no idea if this is still the current status, but it is the latest
>>> I could find on copyright.gov:
>>> https://www.copyright.gov/1201/docs/librarian_statement_01.html
>>>
>>> Note exemption number 3: "Computer programs and video games distributed
>>> in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media
>>> or hardware as a condition of access." That may be applicable to the
>>> current situation.
>> 
>> No it isn't. You have no legal right to run the VAX/VMS distributions
>> other than the rights granted to you on a temporary basis by its current
>> owners.
>> 
>> Your argument is just another take on the abandonware argument and the
>> abandonware argument has been shown to have no basis in law.
>
> The link is actually not about abandonware. But about circumventing
> technical license enforcement in case of it requiring obsolete
> media/hardware.
>

And that is exactly the point I was making. Terry was trying to twist
the meaning of that section into something that he could use to make
the same kind of arguments that the abandonware people make.

That's why I pointed out that he (and other hobbyists) had no inherent
right to run VAX/VMS other than on a temporary basis as granted by HPE.

> Abandonware is not a concept in US law, but it is a concept in EU law
> (Orphan Works Directive). And it does not apply to VMS at all - it
> applies only to cases where copyright holder cannot be found and it
> does not apply to software in general.
>

Thanks for reminding me about the Orphan Works Directive. I had forgotten
about that.

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.