Workbench Disk Sets... What Would Be The Best Way To Obtain Them...

[AmigaHeretic]

registered the Trademark "WORKBENCH" on the 19th of April 2011...

Cloanto Register the Trademark Workbench on 19th April 2011...

Go here to the United States Patent and Trademark Office

http://tess2.uspto.gov/

And they are going after you?

I wonder who they will see first?  Hmm.. how many companies use the term "Workbench" as it relates to computers???


Well there's:

-Hyperion!  Watch  out guys!

-mysql  has Workbench 5.2.33 (latest version)

-Amiga Inc. has Workbench 5 (yet to be release though) :roflmao:

-Workbench Software http://www.workbenchsoftware.com/  Hell better go after these guys for sure!

- Workbench Soft   And these guys!  http://www.workbenchsoft.com/   How dare these guys infringe your copyright 10 years before you think to register it!

Doesn't Maya call there UI Workbench?  Haven't used it in a while?  I'm sure there are a dozen others.  
:laughing:

[Piru]

Ah yes, forgot all about this excellent FAQ cloanto has set up. See this:

Distribution of Amiga ROM and OS Files

And while we're at it, I think this confirms that Cloanto indeed has a license:

Source: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BxlY9g_OfLqDZTQyNGFkYzEtZDI5Zi00YzcxLThhODYtODcyZTg0M2I4MzQ1

[haywirepc]

Originally Posted by psxphill
There isn't much to know about copyright. If you don't have a license then you can't distribute a copyright work. Just because you can't find someone to give you a license is no excuse.
Fuck that. If they can't be bothered to give so much as one token response to an honest inquiry about the status of their copyright, then I don't see why anybody should care about stepping on their toes.
__________________

I definitely agree. Come on cloanto, chime in and defend yourself.
Provide proof of why your acting like utter assholes. They have no reason other than pure GREED.
 
How much money are you going to make off the corpse before you just let people have free access to the roms or disk images?
 
I'm going to go find 3000 free hosting sites and post the roms and disk images everywhere.
 
Steven

[Steino]

Well, well, well seems Cloanto have been lying to us all along, just received some very, very interesting information that Cloanto have been pulling a fast one on the Amiga community for years...

What "lies"? If you accuse someome of lying you could at least back it up with some evidence...

Besides, do you know the difference between a copyright and a registered trademark?

[Franko]

This thread turned out to be a waste of time...

[antonvaltaz]

in order to try and dig themselves out of the very large hole they now find themselves in Cloanto registered the Trademark "WORKBENCH" on the 19th of April 2011...
 
Strange how they only got round to registering it on that date after trying to have us all believe they had owned such things for years previously.

They've only just registered the trademark 'Workbench' because it has only just been awarded them as part of the Amiga Inc vs Cloanto settlement.
 
http://www.commodore-amiga.org/forum/2-welcome-mat/1924-amiga-inc-vs-cloanto-uspto-proceeding-91183272?lang=en
 
It was for this reason that Commodore USA were unable to call their Amiga-themed Linux distro 'Workbench 5' as they had planned.
 
Don't think this is as much exciting news as you seem to think it is Franko.
 
EDIT: When did they ever try to convince anyone they held the trademark for Workbench in the past?

[cgutjahr]

I feel bad for Cloanto that they probably got tricked by AI (like so many others) into thinking they "bought" a legit license or something

This is part of the problem: You (as in: most of the Robin Hood types in this thread) don't have a clue what you're talking about.

Cloanto is distributing these files commercially since 1997. That's three years before McEwen-AmigaInc even existed. AFAIK, the only time they tried to get a license from AmigaInc was when they wanted to include OS 3.9 with Amiga Forever. That failed, so they licensed individual components from their respective authors and called the result "OS 3.X".

There's no evidence that they licensed anything from AmigaInc.

I REMIND PEOPLE again.  CLOANTO even if it is VALID, Cloanto's license is for EMULATION ONLY.  Cloanto on their website states it is ILLEGAL to use those images on REAL HARDWARE.

Don't use the term "illegal" in this context. It's bogus.

Who the FRACK reall cares for F sake?

Nobody cares, which is why the stuff is easily available for anybody who heard of this brand new search engine called Google.

The difference in this particular case is that it is Franko's stated goal to prove that the Workbench disks are PD. Cloanto simply have to react to this. Or as Piru put it: They're a sensible business, so they have to protect their investment.

[Steino]

Why did I not contact Cloanto... simple. they do not own the copyrights for Workbench or have the ability to sell or issue me with a legal distribution licence...

So you are now admitting that you started all of this without even asking them? This is not what you said in your first post: "Ok... as I reckon after trying to contact the various companies that allegedly hold the rights to distribute the various Workbench Disk Sets and not receiving one dicky bird or even one iota of a response from any of them..."

[desiv]

IANAL, but it's nice to see so many here.. ;-)

Most (if not all) contracts drafted by Amiga Inc appear to contain a clause that requires the other party to protect the rights of Amiga Inc.

That's a funny one, because when you break it down, it's legally questionable.

It doesn't appear that actual ownership or even legal rights to "protect on behalf of"  have been transferred in these cases, just the phrase that they are required to...
So, problems?  Yes..
How do they do that?  Complain (as Cloanto has done).  Yes, but the problem there is that "take-down" letters have been challenged quite a lot recently (thank you RIAA), and it appears that you really have to be the legal owner or have been specifically transferred the rights to do so.

It's seriously doubtful that this is the case..  It's much more likely that the above type of wording is all that there is..

So, what would they be expected to do to "protect the rights" legally if they shouldn't send notices themselves?  Why, I would think they would be required to notify the legal owner so that they can send said letters.

So, just because something is in an Amiga contract, that doesn't necessarily mean much...
Contracts frequently have things in them that aren't legally viable.
That's why we have contract attorneys..  :roflmao:

Also, Thanx Piru for providing that image..  It shows that Cloanto does in fact have rights specific for AmigaForever.  
So, anyone providing the files specifically for emulation should have reason to give pause..

desiv

[Franko]

This thread turned out to be a waste of time...

[cgutjahr]

Cloanto Register the Trademark Workbench on 19th April 2011...

1. That's not news for those of us who use our brains occasionally.
2. It's a trademark, while you were ranting about copyright until now
3. Cloanto never claimed to "own" anything.
4. Cloanto actually registered "Workbench" in 2006, it's just the ongoing trademark dispute with AInc that was settled now

[AmigaHeretic]

Don't use the term "illegal" in this context. It's bogus.

What would you call it then?  I am of course referring to this? http://www.amigaforever.com/kb/13-145

[bloodline]

Gawd... you really are an anus aint you... or can't you read very well... :rolleyes:

Cloanto do not own the copyrights to Workbench nor do they have the power to issue/sell/give away/gift/ or out of the goodness of their hearts allow anyone to obtain distribution rights to Workbench... :rolleyes:

So why the frig would I contact them in the first place when the question has nothing to do with them whatsoever... :rolleyes:

Are you really this dumb or do you get up early and practice... :lol:

How do you know what rights Cloanto have regarding the AmigaOS IP? Have you asked them, oh, no wait you didn't bother... Bit rich calling others dumb...

[AmigaHeretic]

Ah yes, forgot all about this excellent FAQ cloanto has set up. See this:

Distribution of Amiga ROM and OS Files

And while we're at it, I think this confirms that Cloanto indeed has a license:

Source: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BxlY9g_OfLqDZTQyNGFkYzEtZDI5Zi00YzcxLThhODYtODcyZTg0M2I4MzQ1

First off that is no legal proof what so ever.  It's something some one typed up as an example listing.  That is not a Cloanto contract or anything.  So don't try to confuse people by posting some snippet of something.  That has no legal anything. I could type something showing "AmigaHeretic has the right to distribute since 1993" and it has the same 100% legal weight as what you show there.

Again, if anything it just again shows, that Cloanto supposedly has a license to distribute stuff ONLY for emulation since 1994.  Ok, great.  

First, how does that have anything to do with physical disks?

Second, if stuff was given to PD, ie, Petro gives Workbench 3.0 to PD in 1995, then so what if Cloanto has a agreement a year prior to distribute disks?  They can still distribute them fine.  We can still get 3.0 free per Petro.  Where is the conflict?

[desiv]

A decent read (and this, being a legal discussion, means it's just a decent opinion, there is no right/wrong until it's gone to court, and even then it's questionable. ;-) is:
http://www.artquest.org.uk/artlaw/copyright/using-other-artists-work/orphan-works.htm

I found this bit relevant:
 

...the responsibility is placed on any prospective user of a copyright work to prove that they have undertaken duly diligent enquiries to trace the copyright owner in order to have reasonably concluded that the author died 70 or more years earlier. Such research must be undertaken before embarking on their copying or merchandising venture.

Now, whether or not anyone feels Franko has "undertaken duly diligent enquiries" is up for discussion...

desiv

[Franko]

This thread turned out to be a waste of time...