Subject:
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Re: Is this legal?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Thu, 17 Jun 2004 15:16:00 GMT
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Viewed:
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2477 times
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In lugnet.market.theory, Jeramy Spurgeon wrote:
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dllViewItem&category=1186&item=5903599649&rd=1
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> Is this legal? Does not seem so, but since Lego allows brickshelf to post
> instructions, I'm not how the copyrights are handled.
I'm gonna throw in a 'nay' vote as well-- He might be able to dodge the legal
issue better if he worded the auction differently. However, the title of his
auction is "2250 Lego Instructions - Technic Space Train", which advertises the
instructions themselves for sale, NOT the software. Same with the 1st line of
the auction description: "Lego instructions for Technic, Mindstorm, ..."
Hence, from a legal perspective he's marketed himself as selling the
instructions, which is NOT legal, versus his software, which IS legal. If he
worded the auction differently, and stressed the point that the instructions
were "Free with purchase of software" or something, that's at least better, but
still not really legal.
I think Lego has authorized *free* distribution of their instructions [1] for
sets no longer in production, which is typically about 3 years (that's the
self-imposed restriction for BrickShelf, although I don't think BrickShelf has
been readily updating for the past few years). Depending on what sets he's got
included, he may be in violation of the 'still-in-production' rule.
But it goes beyond Lego in this case. He specifically states he's selling Star
Wars and Harry Potter instructions, which are copyrights not entirely owned by
Lego (arguably soccer too, since IIRC there might be some Adidas material
involved?) And unless those copyright owners have similarly authorized limited
free distribution, he's probably in violation of their copyright too.
Of course, I doubt he'll see any consequences. It's probably way too small-timey
to bother Lego, Lucasfilm, Adidas, and whoever owns the license to HP. Maybe the
most I'd expect would be a "Hey, cut it out" email from Lego-- most likely only
legal action if they think this guy's been making too much of a profit, and
might be worth going after, but from the looks of it, it's probably doubtful...
DaveE
[1] note that's "reproduced" copies of their instructions, since it's obviously
legal for you to actually re-sell the instruction booklets themselves, just not,
say, photocopies or electronic versions of the instructions.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Is this legal?
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| I found this while browsing ebay today. (URL) this legal? Does not seem so, but since Lego allows brickshelf to post instructions, I'm not how the copyrights are handled. Jeramy (20 years ago, 16-Jun-04, to lugnet.market.theory)
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