WHDLoad compilation CDs on eBay

[Methanoid]

Anyone like his response to my innocent question?? I bet he wont "publish" the followup!! I pointed out that at least ONE author was NOT asked,

Yes, I think he should be reported.....

[Methanoid]

FYI:

ME: "Because I happen to know one (at least) of the authors of several of these patches has NOT been asked permission and isn't very impressed. Whilst I am sure it is sealed and boxed I am not so sure it respects the rights of authors. Is Butterfly Media Ltd in any way related to Epic Marketing? This might explain things somewhat..."

HIM "Not sure but I have emailed Butterfly Media and are yet to get a reply, I am thinking of dumping them as they have not got back to me."

I wonder if he'll sell all his stock on Ebay first

[tin]

think butterfly are operating as a dropshipper now sho probably hasn't got any stock.

Mind you knowing how dodgy butterfly/epic whatever are I wouldn't trust them to dropship my stuff I sold anyway!

[girv]

@Akira: thanks for the Creative Commons links, thats just what I was looking for

FWIW the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 version is what I'm thinking of using from now on. Still need to read the legal fine print though

From eBay:

...[the] supplying company is called, Butterfly Media Ltd, who are drop shippers of this product, they assure me and anyone else who sells this product on their behalf that is genuine, sealed and boxed and that all publishers rights are looked after...

Who is compiling, sealing and boxing this product? Thats what I need to know as they are the actual copyright infringers, I think, although I guess Butterfly and their sub-resellers oughta be liable for something. I've emailed Butterfly asking for these details.

Maybe I (or some other generous soul) should buy one of the CD-ROMs to check what the contents are and also prove that they are selling them commercially. PayPal donations to payments at girvnet dot org dot uk (just kidding)

[girv]

Well no reply as yet No surprise either.

Attached is a modified form of the Creative Commons licence I'm thinking of using from now on. Its lawyer-speak for:
- you can install your game
- you can freely copy and distribute the unmodified installer archive
- you cannot make profit or any material gain from distribution
- you cannot add/remove/modify licence terms with a distribution
- you cannot make/distribute compilations including the installer archive
- you cannot distribute just the installed game
- there are no guarantees
- you can't sue me

All conditions can of course be modified by agreement with the original author (me!).

Comments welcome...

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by girv

@Akira: thanks for the Creative Commons links, thats just what I was looking for

Kickass...

Would be GREAT if the whole WHDLoad team and the WHDLoad install makers would adopt similar licenses to avoid this kind of shit, or to be able to start proper legal actions whenever these things happen. Seems like this butterfly media shit is a big fiend to the project and should be "prosecuted to the full extent of the jam", as my good friend Donpachi would say ;D

By the way, 'you cannot distribute just the installed game' means stuff like KillerGorilla's project is not allowed?

Can't comment any further, the license seems pretty spot-on, modified and all. Creative Commons is great, told ya I know I've got to pick up a license for my music.

[Methanoid]

All looks good to me and KG can easily get permission if he asks.

BTW, it would be just as well to say "without permission from me or my representative, in this case Bert Jahn" if WHDload authors chose to allow Bert to act on their behalf. In that case KG or whoever could ask ONE person for permissions for all Whdloads???

[Amiga1992]

That is, if ALL WHDLoad work starts to be distributed under this license. For now girv is the only whd ptch author implementing it.

[killergorilla]

Originally Posted by girv

Well no reply as yet No surprise either.

Attached is a modified form of the Creative Commons licence I'm thinking of using from now on. Its lawyer-speak for:
- you can install your game
- you can freely copy and distribute the unmodified installer archive
- you cannot make profit or any material gain from distribution
- you cannot add/remove/modify licence terms with a distribution
- you cannot make/distribute compilations including the installer archive
- you cannot distribute just the installed game
- there are no guarantees
- you can't sue me

All conditions can of course be modified by agreement with the original author (me!).

Comments welcome...

Just a quick question regarding my site... I do have pre-installed games on my site. Is this ok with you? If not I will obviously remove these if you wish.

[Codetapper]

To be honest I don't think it will make jack difference. These fuckwits will still sell their CD's on EBay, EBay will still take just as long to look into reported auctions, the person auctioning the CD's will not see the readme containing this legal mumbo-jumbo etc...

[girv]

@killergorilla: you, of course, get an exemption which I, of course, can revoke at any time Basically I dont mind so long as I get credit for the work and you're not selling it. The restrictions arent targetted at community projects like yours but rather the rip-off companies.

@Methanoid: good idea re: appointed representatives.

@Codetapper: You're right of course, but if I do ever decide to take action (which I might) I'm now making sure its from a sound legal footing. Its a sad state of affairs but these "people" (for want of a better word) are taking advantage of me, you, Bert and the rest and it makes me mad I'm not doing much, but I'm doing something ... feel free to join in

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by Codetapper

To be honest I don't think it will make jack difference.

Yes, it does, from a legal standpoint, you released your work with a license that explicitly avoids selling it in these shit CDS and you can start legal actions with the right foot, and probably win against those fuckers.

Don't underestimate the power of the licenses and all this legal mumbo-jumbo! I know it's shit we skip when agreeing but in these cases they are lifsavers for the cretors of the stuff, in this case, WHDLoad patches.

I would be terribly happy if the whole WHDLoad team start including girv's or a similar license to avoi fuckheaads to sell the crap on eBay.
With this license you can even sue eBay for letting theseauctions go on even after many reports.

[Amiga1992]

By the way:

The seller ended this listing early because the item is no longer available for sale.

He likes to sell all that Epic Marketing shit anyway....