[time-nuts] Data Professionals Press Release
Charles P. Steinmetz
charles_steinmetz at lavabit.com
Sun Dec 12 05:51:53 UTC 2010
Perry wrote:
>Considering that the Heath Company has been out of business for say,
>30 years or so, this "California Business Plan" shows that you momma
>was right in telling you not to ingest illegal substances. I suppose
>their next bright idea is to buy rights from Ford for the Edsel.
Intellectual property rights do not just evaporate or return to the
public domain when a company disappears -- SOMEONE owns them (often
someone who bought the assets of the company, perhaps for less than a
penny on the dollar). I have no idea whether Data Professionals
bought anything from anybody -- or if they did, whether the seller
really owned active copyrights, and if so, what exactly they
owned. There is an infinity of possibilities, and the only certainty
would be the judgment of a court deciding a lawsuit.
What we appear to have is someone claiming to hold the rights, and
threatening enforcement. Folks can either accept the claim, defy the
threat and invite a lawsuit, or bring a preemptive action for
declaratory relief -- i.e., make Data Professionals prove that they
own the rights. Not likely that anyone who wants to host free
downloads will undergo the expense of being the test case (but if you
are willing, please be our guest -- otherwise, please stop throwing
bombs of ignorance).
Best regards,
Charles
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