thuyan@brahms.udel.edu (Thuy-An Hartman) (04/09/91)
I was told to post to this news group and perhaps someone could help me out. I am wondering if anyone knows when the patent/copyright for MAC is going to run out. I heard that it will be this year and I was wondering if I should wait and buy a clone rather than a MAC. If you do not know, but perhaps know where I could find out, this would be a great help. Please e-mail to me as I do not get the opportunity to read rn often. thuyan@brahms.udel.edu
hermens@ted.cs.uidaho.edu (04/10/91)
There is no possible way that a copyright or patent for the Macintosh could run out this year. Copyrights last for 50 years past the death of an author and patents last for 17 years. My calculations indicate that a Mac would have had to have been patented somewhere around 1974. The oldest Mac I know of is about six years old. Technicalities aside, Leonard In article <20266@brahms.udel.edu> thuyan@brahms.udel.edu (Thuy-An Hartman) writes: >I was told to post to this news group and perhaps someone could help me >out. > >I am wondering if anyone knows when the patent/copyright for MAC is >going to run out. I heard that it will be this year and I was wondering >if I should wait and buy a clone rather than a MAC. > >If you do not know, but perhaps know where I could find out, this would >be a great help. > >Please e-mail to me as I do not get the opportunity to read rn often. > >thuyan@brahms.udel.edu
auvvidl@auvc14.tamu.edu (Mike Vidlak) (04/10/91)
In article <1991Apr10.001229.1677@groucho> hermens@ted.cs.uidaho.edu writes:
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From: hermens@ted.cs.uidaho.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Date: 10 Apr 91 00:12:29 GMT
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There is no possible way that a copyright or patent for the Macintosh could
run out this year.
Copyrights last for 50 years past the death of an author and
patents last for 17 years. My calculations indicate that a Mac would have
had to have been patented somewhere around 1974. The oldest Mac I know of is
about six years old.
Technicalities aside,
Leonard
Copyrights last 50 years beyond the death of the author, however, in
the case of a copyright that belongs to a corporation (like Apple),
the copyright lasts for 75 years.
--
Michael Vidlak
mvidlak@cs.tamu.edu
auvvidl@auvsun1.tamu.eduCAH0@bunny.gte.com (Chuck Hoffman) (04/10/91)
In article <20266@brahms.udel.edu> thuyan@brahms.udel.edu (Thuy-An Hartman) writes: > I am wondering if anyone knows when the patent/copyright for MAC is > going to run out. I heard that it will be this year and I was wondering > if I should wait and buy a clone rather than a MAC. > > If you do not know, but perhaps know where I could find out, this would > be a great help. > > Please e-mail to me as I do not get the opportunity to read rn often. I did e-mail this to the writer, but thought it would be of general interest in this group, anyway. Here's a copy of the e-mail: The information about Mac copyright and patent is probably incorrect. In the U.S., the base Mac, or component of a Mac, would have a copyright good for 17 years. Then each improvement or upgrade to the Mac or a component would be protected for 17 years from the time of the upgrade. Copyrights last 75 or 50 years, depending on how the work was created, and can be extended if the author is still alive. You may have heard talk of a Mac clone coming. If this is true, and if the manufacturer does not have Apple's permission, then it would have to be created either from original engineering, or from information and technology generally available (such as from published interface specifications). There also has been talk, and only talk, that there is some concern that the Mac may be using some technology developed for an old Xerox system. If this were true, then Apple's copyrights might have to be reviewed. - Chuck Hoffman, GTE Laboratories, Inc. | I'm not sure why we're here, cah0@bunny.gte.com | but I am sure that while we're Telephone (U.S.A.) 617-466-2131 | here, we're supposed to help GTE VoiceNet: 679-2131 | each other. GTE Telemail: C.HOFFMAN |
auvvidl@auvc14.tamu.edu (Mike Vidlak) (04/10/91)
In article <10957@bunny.GTE.COM> CAH0@bunny.gte.com (Chuck Hoffman) writes:
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From: CAH0@bunny.gte.com (Chuck Hoffman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Date: 10 Apr 91 13:59:33 GMT
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I did e-mail this to the writer, but thought it would be of general
interest in this group, anyway. Here's a copy of the e-mail:
The information about Mac copyright and patent is probably incorrect. In
the U.S., the base Mac, or component of a Mac, would have a copyright good
for 17 years. Then each improvement or upgrade to the Mac or a component
would be protected for 17 years from the time of the upgrade. Copyrights
last 75 or 50 years, depending on how the work was created, and can be
extended if the author is still alive.
You may have heard talk of a Mac clone coming. If this is true, and if
the manufacturer does not have Apple's permission, then it would have to
be created either from original engineering, or from information and
technology generally available (such as from published interface
specifications).
There also has been talk, and only talk, that there is some concern that
the Mac may be using some technology developed for an old Xerox system.
If this were true, then Apple's copyrights might have to be reviewed.
- Chuck Hoffman, GTE Laboratories, Inc. | I'm not sure why we're here,
cah0@bunny.gte.com | but I am sure that while we're
Telephone (U.S.A.) 617-466-2131 | here, we're supposed to help
GTE VoiceNet: 679-2131 | each other.
GTE Telemail: C.HOFFMAN |
There is a difference between copyrights and patents. I won't go into
why you should use copyrights over patents or vice-versa, there are a
number of good articles in print that cover that. Email me if you
want some sources.
When an author files a copyright with the Copyright Office, once
approved, it remains in effect for the lifetime of the author plus 50
years. If a copyright is filed by multiple authors (aka a corporation
or company like Apple) it remains in effect for only 75 years,
irregardless of the current status of the authors.
Patents, once approved by the Patent Office, remain in effect for 17
years.
I am sure there are ways to extend all of these, however, I am not
familiar enough to comment on them.
--
Michael Vidlak
mvidlak@cs.tamu.edu
auvvidl@auvsun1.tamu.edu