Commodore USA puts Marko Hirv's name back

[Trev]

Ignore copyright violators? Should we ignore people who sell pirate software on eBay or elsewhere?

If you're not the owner of the copyright, yes, you should ignore them. If you're not prepared to defend yourself against claims of libel, making false statements, etc. it's best to keep your mouth shut. Hell, your "notice" could even be construed as a DMCA takedown notice, in which case the "infringer" is entitled to statutory damages as a result of any action taken against them, as you're not the owner of the copyright.

EDIT: You're advocating for intellectual vigilantism. And for what it's worth, I think out-of-court settlement agreements with alleged infringers are nothing more than extortion. Threaten the guy that downloaded your song, and the government turns a blind eye. Threaten the guy that abused your daughter, and the government throws you in jail.

[Trev]

@Iggy

In the United States, anything you create is automatically copyrighted, and that copyright extends to all signatories of the Berne Convention. This is why it's humorous whenever someone says something like "downloading copyrighted works is illegal." Unless explicitly placed in the public domain, everything is copyrighted. If you couldn't download copyrighted works, you couldn't receive Ethernet frame headers, which could arguably be copyrighted by the entity that produced them.

Forums like this one may have terms of service that alter ownership or create specific license terms for copyrighted content, but typically, yes, anything you write is copyrighted.

[Trev]

That boggles my mind, Trev. Thanks for the clarification. Sounds like a distinct improvement over the copyright protection I grew up with.

Does this affect Marko Hirv's illustration?

I think Piru covered it already, but if it's not explicitly in the public domain, or if it wasn't created prior to certain copyright law changes and extensions, the work is copyrighted. With respect to Commodore USA, however, only the copyright holder can ask them to take the image down, altered or otherwise. Marko's from Estonia, right? I have no idea how copyright works there.

Some things, like names, can't be copyrighted. Trademarks cover the exceptions, and not everything can be trademarked.