[DECtalk] decTalk 4.4 4.5 and 4.6 as sapi5?

[Don]

On 5/26/2021 6:08 PM, Josh Kennedy wrote:
> Hi Is there anyone on here, since decTalk is now officially abandoned and
> fonix or speech-fx-inc is dead and their website domain up for sale… So
> could anyone or would anyone be willing to port decTalk, the good one, 4.41
> 4.51 or 4.60 over as a good stable sapi5 tts with all its voices? And I
> would even be willing to pay money to have decTalk 4.4 4.5 and 4.6 as sapi5
> tts. So if anyone would or could do this can you let me know? And also how
> much money would you want for the job?

Nothing you have said speaks to whether or not the source code has
been "unencumbered" -- FORMALLY released to the public domain.
Even when a company closes up shop, SOMEONE assumes ownership
of its remaining assets.  Taking ownership of a copyright is
pretty easy -- you don't need any room to store it!

<https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/8732/how-can-i-release-a-work-into-the-public-domain>

<https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain>

Please note how long it takes for a copyright to *naturally* expire.
And, how much LONGER the period is for "corporate holdings".  I.e.,
we'll all be DEAD before the copyright expires on a ~1980 work!
(assuming the copyright wasn't *renewed* in the years since!)

Before I work on anyone's (proprietary) source code, I insist
(in the contract) that they formally assert that they *own* it
AND that they will INDEMNIFY me (i.e., protect me from any
lawsuits that may arise from my work) and my efforts.

Any other exercise is just called *theft*.  (and, discourages others
from participating in a particular market as it's "customers"
appear willing to subvert their rights of ownership)  Imagine
being "stuck" with 1980's technology because folks figured
this market was too hostile for their efforts!