I think we should copyright this thread...so maybe it won't be duplicated
again....:-)
Cecil
K5DL
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Carpenter" <sam@owenscommunication.com>
To: "'k7fm'" <k7fm@teleport.com>; <amps@contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 10:16 AM
Subject: Re: [Amps] Heath copyright
> Well said. The lack of these protections would stifle innovation,
> creativity, and problem solving. There must be a Carrot.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: amps-bounces@contesting.com [mailto:amps-bounces@contesting.com] On
> Behalf Of k7fm
> Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 10:45 AM
> To: amps@contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [Amps] Heath copyright
>
> I think we have worn out the copyright issue, but I have one comment.
>
> A copyright is a grant to the creator by the government to protect the
> effort of the creation. It is no different than the government allowing
> the
>
> finder of a gold mine to patent the claim. So, a miner uses his effort to
> find a gold mine. Finally, after years of searching, he hits it big. He
> patents the claim and then owns it outright and can pass the wealth he
> created to his children. No one calls the miner a cheat, or the
> government
> a cheat for protecting the miner.
>
> Well, instead of mining, George Gershwin sat down and wrote "Rhapsody in
> Blue". That was his gold mine and the government granted him the right to
> protect it and pass the royalties of it to his children. I am assuming
> few
> people have a problem with that. United Air Lines purchased the rights to
> use it many years ago. So, this same rule applies to any copyright. It
> makes no difference whether the copyright is owned by a company (Disney)
> or
> and individual. It is a right to protect the genius and work-product of
> the
>
> creator.
>
> In the case of Heath, when they sold the product, they had a contract with
> the purchaser. In addition to the kit, they furnished a nice detailed
> manual and provided support for a number of years. They fulfilled their
> obligation to the purchaser. That was 40 or 50 years ago. Things changed
> and Heath no longer sells electronic kits. They are still a viable
> company
> and sold one of their assets - the copyright to many of their manuals.
> They
>
> had long ago fulfilled their obligation to the original purchaser.
>
> What some hams have argued is that Heath had an obligation to provide the
> manuals forever to anyone who wanted them - they did not even restrict the
> argument to the original purchaser. How many of you, when you purchased
> your last car, insisted that a workshop manual be supplied? How many of
> you
>
> believe that when you buy a car an entire workshop manual should be
> supplied
>
> online?
>
> If you think you have life tough, think about antique aircraft restorers.
> If it is a certified aircraft, the owner can make a part - but he cannot
> simply replicate a part based upon the existing part which is being
> replaced. Nope. That is not legal. He must buy a copy of the original
> blueprint, then make a copy from the blueprints, which can then be a
> certified part. My 1973 aircraft needed repair and the factory in Germany
> said to send the part over so it could be repaired at the factory. Except
> the part was the fuselage frame. They have no workshop manual available.
> No blueprints. Nothing. I repaired it, but had to go through a lot of
> hoops to get it back in the air. Ha, I wish I could have purchased a nice
> manual for it.
>
> And, as for rip offs. I bought a non-working digital signal generator at
> a
> swap meet for $25. I then found the company was still in business and
> called them to get a manual for it. The lady said they had no manuals but
> did have photocopies. I asked her if she could send me the photocopy and
> bill me. She then told me the price of $520 for the photocopy. I choked
> and ungracefully declined the purchase. The company is a military
> supplier.
>
> The bizarre thing is that the manual was already in the public domain
> because it was a military contract. I found a ham willing to copy a
> slightly different model and got mine going again. Now, that was a
> rip-off.
>
> So, I have no problem with having to buy a Heath manual. Just hum a few
> bars of Rhapsody in Blue and be happy.
>
> 73, Colin K7FM
>
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