Re: Re: Contrary to Morality - What is that?

It would seem a loose translation of "droit morale" -- the broader rights accorded artists and authors under some European laws to control the exploitation of their works. It comes, I think, from the view that intellectual property ownership and control is a natural right -- a view that is at odds with the American approach, which views it as a statutory grant.

John Noble

At 4:45 PM -0400 10/3/05, S. Martin Keleti wrote:
>At 11:50 AM 10/3/2005, josephpietrojeungriolo[_at_]gmail.com wrote:
>>I encountered a statement in license that I do
>>not fully understand and I am turning to this
>>discussion forum for help in interpreting the
>>statement. As a gift, my wife gave me
>>Chessmaster 10th Edition. After long
>>procrastination, I finally decided to install
>>it in my PC. As the installation was
>>proceeding, the license was presented to me.
>>Because I was going to use the software for my
>>other project, I had to read license very
>>carefully. The portion that stopped me from
>>continuing the installation is this: It is
>>not permitted: - To make copies …
>>- To operate … - To use it contrary
>>to morality or the laws in force, -
>>To modify … - To transmit …
>>- To create …. - To decompile,
>>reverse engineer or disassemble … Exactly what
>>does "contrary to morality" mean? I searched
>>Internet and found some references on it. But,
>>all of them are related to patent. I could not
>>find anything relating to the use of software.
>>So, I sent a question on the meaning of
>>"contrary to morality" to Ubi Soft's on-line
>>support. (Ubi Soft is the manufacturer of
>>Chessmaster 10th Edition.) After hearing
>>nothing from the on-line support for one or two
>>weeks, I decided to call Ubi Soft's support. I
>>asked the person who answered my call about the
>>meaning of "contrary to morality". He put me
>>on hold for a while (I did not time it but I
>>estimated that it was one or two minutes). He
>>then explained to me that it was a blanket
>>statement to prevent people from breaking any
>>copyright laws. I was tempted to ask him to
>>elaborate that but knowing that he was not
>>expert in legal language, I thanked him for his
>>time and I hanged up phone. I thought more
>>about what he said. If it is really that
>>obvious that "contrary to morality" means
>>breaking any copyright laws, why is this
>>specific wording chosen over other wording? Is
>>this an example where Ubi Soft went overboard
>>and borrowed the language from patent? If
>>"contrary to morality" actually is applicable
>>to Chessmaster, can anyone think of examples
>>where using Chessmaster is contrary to
>>morality? Joseph Pietro Riolo
>><josephpietrojeungriolo[_at_]gmail.com>
>><riolo[_at_]voicenet.com>
>
>
>My understanding of "contrary to morality" is
>that it is *broader* than simply contrary to
>copyright laws. I've seen the term in
>discussions of civil law jurisdictions (e.g.,
>France, Germany, Switzerland), often
>synonymously with "contrary to public policy." I
>don't believe that it's limited to patent law,
>but that's just the area in which you came
>across it; it can come up in the field of
>contracts as well (for example, whether
>contracts relating to gambling are enforceable
>), and I believe that it comes up in the area of
>free speech, too.
>
>Given that Ubisoft is headquartered in France
>(http://www.ubisoftgroup.com/AboutUbisoft/Default.aspx?cpid=181),
>its use of this term shouldn't be surprising.
>This kind of boilerplate probably finds its way
>into many other types of legal documents,
>whether or not any particular application is
>contemplated; but if you should come up with a
>use of Chessmaster that is contrary to morality,
>Ubisoft's covered. It may have other products
>that are susceptible to such illegal uses, and
>it's just easier to leave that clause in.
>
>
>
>
>
>S. Martin Keleti
>Cohen and Cohen
>740 North La Brea Avenue
>Los Angeles, CA 90038-3339
>323.938.5000
>323.936.6354 fax
>
>
>
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Received on Wed Oct 05 2005 - 01:00:31 GMT