|
re: undergrounds and copyright
I would NOT expect any of the underground groups to try and
"take away" our copyright.
But according to the law, if you do not "aggressively defend"
your copyright, you can loose it in a suit involving another
case.
I learned this by reading a story about Walt Disney. Disney
sued a small child care facility because they painted images
of Mickey Mouse and Goofy on the walls of their playroom.
They did this without permission.
Disney sued...not because they are a bunch of "meanies",
but to prove they are "aggressively defending" their
copyright. Disney execs really didn't care if a small child
care center had those paintings.
BUT, if some manufacturer started making millions of dollars
selling "cheap" Mickey Mouse watches (breaking Disney's
copyright), then Disney sued for copyright enfringement,
the copy-cat could point to "numerous occassions when
Disney did not defend their copyright" and a court could
decide that Disney had in-effect surrendered their copyright
because they had not been defending it in other cases.
So its not a matter of concern that an underground would
try and legally take away our copyrights. The concern is
if some other group (a company selling LXA stuff, or
even an organization of underground LXA chapters)
which we WOULD want to legally prevent from using
our stuff comes along, and we sue, they can say
"Hey, everybody else uses LXA-copyrighted stuff
illegally, and they never say anything"....then the court
might say "you're right...LXA doesn't defend its copyright,
so in effect they've given it up."
Screwy how courts work sometimes.
|
Threaded Mode