[DECtalk] notes for some songs

[Tony Baechler]

Hi,

Like you, your post bothers me and I also feel that I should respond.  I 
find your observations interesting.  I only saw one reply saying that he 
didn't want it online and that was after my post.  If you look through 
his past posts, you will see that he refuses to follow copyright law and 
has said this several times.  He apparently thinks, based on his posts 
and attitude, that he is above the law.  How does this relate to him 
selling a CD?  Because it is no different than piracy and making money 
besides.  He is certainly entitled to sell his original creations and 
more power to him, but that doesn't give him the right to sell copies of 
software that he did _NOT_ write and the notes to songs that are not his 
compositions.  We're not talking classical, 18th or 19th centuries 
here.  We're talking about songs from post-1922 that are still under 
copyright.  There are many references to consult that give clear 
explanations of copyright law, some links to which I've also posted in 
the past.  Therefore, I feel mostly justified in what I said.  I am 
sorry that he felt offended because I was trying to help and I hope he 
makes something for what he alone created, but not at the expense of the 
developers and original composers who are getting no money at all from 
his selling efforts.  Please read both sides of an argument before you 
post.  I would like to respond to one other point you made below:

Raymond Grote wrote:
> Also 
> read that it took him seven months to complete. Do a software project that 
> takes half a year and see how you feel when people bombard you with requests 
> to make it free and to post its info online. For one thing, Snoopy isn't 
> just doing this for a hobby. This is his job, from my understanding. He does 
> this kind of Dectalk stuff because he likes it and because he makes money 
> off of it. With messages pestering him, or saying that you'll put it online 
> so proudly, he's going to get mad. Wouldn't you?


No, I absolutely wouldn't!  In fact, I would want to give it away and 
would be glad that people showed an interest.  If it is truly 
commercial, I would market and advertise it just like any other 
commercial product.  You are obviously unfamiliar with the free software 
movement.  Look at: http://www.debian.org/ and http://www.freebsd.org/ 
and http://sourceforge.net/ and http://freshmeat.net/  All of those 
sites specialize in nothing but free software.  In the case of Debian 
and FreeBSD, they have been free and have been put online for giveaway 
since at least 1993.  That's a heck of a lot more than half a year I 
think.  Nowadays, the face of software is changing.  It is not unusual 
to give away software just for the fun of it.  Yes, FreeBSD does sell 
CDs to make money, but there is no reason at all why people can't 
download CD images and make their own.  Therefore, I'm afraid your 
argument holds little weight with me.  Also, I would not buy anything 
from a so-called "commercial" software project where the guy can't 
bother to use his real name.  If I get ripped off or if the CD gets 
damaged, I can't very well contact him because I have no idea who he is 
or what address to write to.  Nope, I'm not going to buy from someone 
who can't be bothered to use at least a real sounding name.  I'm really 
surprised that this doesn't bother more people.