The above are kid stuff compared to the big problem looming up like the vision of a thirty-six wheeler booming down the infobahn as seen by the proverbial büg. That problem is Derivative Works. Who owns your files? According to current copyright law, the original holder of copyright owns all derivations. By that reasoning, if Opcode owns Vision, it should own all sequences created or stored in Vision. O’Hoo Ha! As my gun-totin’ buddy in upstate Maine says, “I think not.”

But why not? Probably, the lawyers would say, because the publishers promised that right to you as an inducement to buy their software, even if their ads didn’t say so exactly in those words. So publishers may even have partially waived their copyright protection! Common sense suggests that you own your files, even though they may be derivative works, while the publisher retains ownership of copyright in the host application. Fine. But, and this is what makes lawyers weird, if you own the file, you’re both entitled and encouraged to publish and distribute it as a function of copyright law, right? So since when are you required to distribute it only to other purchasers of the host application? Why can’t you include the host application with your file to satisy the spirit of the copyright law? And what about fair use? Archives? Ephemeral recordings? Etc.? Gadzooks!!!

And What Happens If You Were Perhaps To Distribute Your Copyrighted Files With Host Software Via Some On-Line Service Or Bulletin Board? As Mr. Bill used to say, Ohhhhhhhhhh, Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

The point about all this, in fairness to all parties, is that current copyright law doesn’t address software adequately, and so a kind of medieval feudal anarchy has sprung up, enriching attorneys, encouraging 800-pound virtual gorillas (does Bill Gates come to mind here?) and enabling infopirates (here, too?) while generating immense amounts of fear and loathing on the part of just about everybody else involved.

What to do? First, write your Congresspersons, tell ‘em to get moving on this as soon as they’ve got health care wrapped, and tell ‘em to protect your interests too, for a change. Second, so you don’t have to depend on publishers’ interpretations of it, read the copyright law for yourself – it ain’t that bad. Third, let the publishers of your software know in emphatic terms when you think they are unnecessarily jerking you around, appropriating your rights, and generally treating you like a crumb!

In the meantime, happy files!

Dave Moulton is investigating shrink-wrapping for weight control. He lives in Groton, Massachusetts, and drinks too much coffee, which makes him, er, intense.