[DECtalk] how to prove decTalk license status?

[Don]

On 6/19/2022 7:39 AM, joshknnd1982 at gmail.com wrote:
> Ok so since I can't get ahold of Roger Dudley, is there any way at all
> possible to prove whether or not decTalk is abandonware? Or is decTalk paid
> software still?

Abandonware is a made-up term.

SOMEONE holds the copyright to the software (cuz most copyrights
have durations of 50+ years and DECtalk is a product of ~1980).
If you can find a notice where the CURRENT copyright holder has
officially "released" the work to the public domain (there are
formulaic ways of doing so), then you can rely on this to
indemnify you from copyright infringement.

Barring that, then EVERYTHING ever written is still protected
by copyright -- which limits your right to do anything with it.

MS hasn't supported WfWG, W95, W98, W2K, XP, etc. for years.
Try taking out an ad SELLING them AS IF THEY WERE YOUR PROPERTY
and see how quickly you are notified of your breach!  :>

[Surely there is a market for someone to "assume ownership" of XP
and continue to support it -- for a fee!  Why should MS object?
Well, maybe because they don't want XP to persist and it is
THEIR product to control!]

Talk to an IP lawyer.  He'll gladly bill you for his time -- in
15 minute increments -- and give you the same advice.