I'm sure that "own" requires a valid copy, although I don't have any case
law handy. One cannot "own" stolen goods. Ownership requires a valid right
in the goods (as opposed to mere possession).
There is no "innocence" defense for copyright infringement. Further, there is no requirement that one "know" that the material is copyrighted. An "innocent" user of the software can, indeed, be guilty of infringement.
However, in many cases of innocent infringement, damages are minimal if the if the innocent infringer was not at fault. Further, few manufacturers will go after individuals who are truly innocent infringers.
-Bodi
>
> On Wed, 6 Aug 2003 4:29PM -0500, vbel wrote:
> > But, given that end users must copy software onto a hard disk (usually)
> > in order to use it, and then load into RAM at boot time, aren't we in
> > fact talking about acutual (alleged) infringment versus just "use"?
>
> 17 usc 117 says that "the owner of a copy of a computer program" may
> make copies "created as an essential step in the utilization of the
> computer program". So, as long as someone can be said to "own a copy" of
> the Linux kernel, then, yes, they don't need a seperate license to copy
> it to their hard disk and to load it into RAM.
>
> This raises the question can someone "own a copy" if that copy is
> infringing? I think so. The copyright holder's action is against those
> who illegally copied the work, not against innocent parties who
> purchased it. To allow a copyright holder to both claim actual damages
> from the infringer who made the copy and also to restrict an innocent
> third party would allow them to profit twice from an infringement.
>
> Roy Murphy \ CSpice: A Mailing List for Clergy Spouses
> murphy@panix.com \ http://www.panix.com/~murphy/CSpice.html
>
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Received on Mon Aug 11 2003 - 21:47:28 GMT
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