[Info-vax] OpenVMS Hobbyist Notification

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 3/8/2020 7:52 PM, Dave Froble wrote:
> On 3/8/2020 8:46 AM, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) wrote:
>> In article <r42p8k$9s5$1 at panix2.panix.com>, kludge at panix.com (Scott
>> Dorsey) writes:
>>> Yes.  This is what "abandonware" means.  It's software that is no longer
>>> available from the manufacturer but which is legally constrained from
>>> open distribution.
>>
>> I had the impression that some here thought that it meant that if it is
>> no longer available from the manufacturer, then one somehow has the
>> right to do what one wants with it.
>>
>> That is not the case.
> 
> Just as a bit of conversation, not advocating anything, at least at this 
> time.  Don't need Bill calling me names.
> 
> If HP/HPe no longer has copies of VMS, then just what could they use in 
> any legal cases to prove piracy, or whatever one wishes to call it? Sort 
> of a real practical matter, right?

Not really.

If one is using anything that somebody else has copyright on without
a license then it is copyright infringement.

Whether that somebody else is using it or not does not matter for
the legality or the possibility for ending up having to pay.

It may at most reduce the amount one has to pay.

Arne