Hi together,
maybe you remember that I mailed to Amstrad some time ago if I'm allowed to use their roms.
Today I got a mail from them.
- I am not allowed to use Amstrad plc. Roms inside my emulator
- I am not allowed to make my emulator public
- If I would share my emulator any longer, they will report that and take me to international courts.
- I already have to pay an amount of £15.000 as regress
:(
(I hope other emu-coders will not have the same problems, I don't know what happened with Amstrad, that they are so un-cooperative now :( )
Today is april fools day!
But it was a nice try! :)
Quote from: Alcofribas on 11:52, 01 April 10
Today is april fools day!
But it was a nice try! :)
Oups.. indeed, we have April, 1st...
Anyway I did not take care about this.
Ahhhh frak! Damn you! But it WAS very fishy - after all, Amstrad HAVE given permission...
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Dear Mr. Hohmann,
Thankyou for communication dated 2009-11-21 concering use of the ROM software for the Amstrad CPC computers in your emulator program.
You are not granted permission to use the ROM software in any form because this remains the copyright of Amstad plc.
You MUST, with immediate effect, remove all downloads pertaining to your program and you MUST delete this program.
You have 30 days to comply with this.
If you fail to comply we will result to legal proceedings. You are required to pay £15,000 in compensation for the existing offence. This payment must be sent within 20 days.
Your prompt action is required in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Block
Like a postage for emails published in German newspapers, tv and radio this morning.
Damn - just imagine ???
Quote from: CPCIak on 12:40, 01 April 10
Like a postage for emails published in German newspapers, tv and radio this morning.
Damn - just imagine ???
?
Sorry, I did not read any newspaper yet.
What happened?
Quote from: Devilmarkus on 11:42, 01 April 10
Hi together,
maybe you remember that I mailed to Amstrad some time ago if I'm allowed to use their roms.
Today I got a mail from them.
- I am not allowed to use Amstrad plc. Roms inside my emulator
- I am not allowed to make my emulator public
- If I would share my emulator any longer, they will report that and take me to international courts.
- I already have to pay an amount of £15.000 as regress
:(
(I hope other emu-coders will not have the same problems, I don't know what happened with Amstrad, that they are so un-cooperative now :( )
damn. what about kc compact roms?
Quote from: arnoldemu on 12:44, 01 April 10
damn. what about kc compact roms?
Hmm well I think they would do!
(Or does Amstrad also have rights on GDR roms?)
GDR doesnt exist anymore... Robotron, too, AFAIK.
So I think this could do it!
Erm - if this is serious indeed, then I don't even know where to begin... the ROMs already having been granted to the public, the ROMs being irrelevant to the emulator itself, the clear lack of right or jurisdiction to impose a fine (not to mention that an email is hardly the way to do it anyhow...
Bottom line is: even if there are some corporate lackeys running the show in Amstrad now, screw it - just remove the ROMs from the package and everything will be just as before.
This is so utterly weird that I can't believe it's not an April Fool's. But if it is, and you continue with it even after it's been called, then you're in offense of April Fool's etiquette...
According to WDR2 the German government is going to establish a fee for every sent email.
Google for "email porto",please ;)
Well, concerning kc compact ROMs, there are two possibilities: either they were unlicensed, in which case it's all the same, or they were licensed, but in this case the rights revert to their initial holder after the demise of the licensee. Except if KC compacts wore a total rewrite of the original ROMs (much like the first IBM-compatible BIOSes...)
Quote from: Gryzor on 12:46, 01 April 10
This is so utterly weird that I can't believe it's not an April Fool's. But if it is, and you continue with it even after it's been called, then you're in offense of April Fool's etiquette...
Sorry I asked you before 12:00 in MSN to post the mail or not...
You better read MSN
Well, apologies for discussing my wedding with family last night :D
"Sender: privacy@amstad.com"
Who the heck is Amstad?
So, shall we post is as a big piece of news on the front page???
Quote from: Gryzor on 12:48, 01 April 10
Well, concerning kc compact ROMs, there are two possibilities: either they were unlicensed, in which case it's all the same, or they were licensed, but in this case the rights revert to their initial holder after the demise of the licensee. Except if KC compacts wore a total rewrite of the original ROMs (much like the first IBM-compatible BIOSes...)
Well, I dont know this.
But I think, KC-compact roms are not licensed.
There also exist many games for the KC-compact which have been "copied and renamed" from CPC games.
Arkanoid = best example
Quote from: Gryzor on 12:50, 01 April 10
Well, apologies for discussing my wedding with family last night :D
"Sender: privacy@amstad.com"
Who the heck is Amstad?
So, shall we post is as a big piece of news on the front page???
Built on salt and water :P
Quote from: Devilmarkus on 12:51, 01 April 10
Built on salt and water :P
Unfamiliar with the expression...?
Quote from: Gryzor on 12:53, 01 April 10
Unfamiliar with the expression...?
April April! :D :D :D
So it's an April Fool's? But, as I said, once someone calls it you're not allowed to continue the prank...
Quote from: Gryzor on 12:55, 01 April 10
So it's an April Fool's? But, as I said, once someone calls it you're not allowed to continue the prank...
I dont care about this :P
(I know someone who believed that)
Quote from: Gryzor on 12:55, 01 April 10
So it's an April Fool's? But, as I said, once someone calls it you're not allowed to continue the prank...
I'll just phone Alan and check...
Quote from: redbox on 12:57, 01 April 10
I'll just phone Alan and check...
Greet him
I was gonna send one earlier about news of Amstrad re-entering the computer and console market, powered by the new SClive 4000 CPU. :D
Actually SClive needs a new & powerfull CPU!
I guess he needs an UPgrade....
He looks like a right dick in that pic :D
Resurrecting an April Fool's... oh well.
I thought it'd make an interesting addition to the wiki to write something about the legal state of affairs, so I found the message in which Cliff Lawson gives permission to distribute the ROMs. However, it appears it only covers Sinclair-related ROMs, so what about the CPC/PCW ones??
Here's the text:
Quote
>> Forum: comp.sys.sinclair
>> Thread: Amstrad ROM permissions
>> Message 1 of 1
Subject: Amstrad ROM permissions
Date: 08/31/1999
Author: Cliff Lawson <clawson@letsprevent.somespam.amstrad.com (clawson@amstrad.com)>
Hi,
Andrew Owen sent me the following email about the Spectrum ROMs and said it was being discussed on c.s.s but I can't see the
relevant thread (I have a totally crap newsfeed - Psinet - who only carry about half the traffic!!). So, anyway, here's my reply about
these issues:
"I know you have answered the question of Amstrad's policy on the use of the Spectrum ROMs before but the debate has come up
again on comp.sys.sinclair and as much as I tell people what I believe it is, they want a definitive answer. So when you have time here
are the questions. Thanks!
1) What exactly do you have to do to use Sinclair ROMs in an emulator, such as acknowledgements etc?"
Amstrad are happy for emulator writers to include images of our copyrighted code as long as the (c)opyright messages are not altered
and we appreciate it if the program/manual includes a note to the effect that "Amstrad have kindly given their permission for the
redistribution of their copyrighted material but retain that copyright".
"2) Can you charge a shareware fee for an emulator that uses the Sinclair ROMs?"
No. No one should be charging for the ROM code because (as a result of the point above) there are loads of freely available images
anyway. If I ever thought someone was charging for the ROM images then I'd make them available as a free download on the
www.amstrad.com (http://www.amstrad.com) web site. Naturally I imagine that some emulator writers want to charge a shareware fee for the code they have
written and we have absolutely no problem with that as long as they aren't, in any sense, charging for the parts of the code that are
(c)Amstrad and (c) Sinclair.
"3) Can you modify the ROMs, for instance to enable tape loading and saving, and if so what are the requirements?"
The ROM code is simply a tool to let the emulator writers make a program that works as close to the original machine as possible. If
they choose to modify the behaviour in any way then that's entirely up to them (I guess you could say that that is exactly what an
emulator IS doing (ie modifying the screen output and keyboard input to go via the PC bits)!!)
"4) Can you distribute modified ROMs?"
If you like (with that (c) proviso).
"5) Does this apply to all ROMs, Interface 1+2, ZX80, ZX81, Spectrum 48, 128,
+2, +2A and +3."
I think Amstrad only bought the rights to Spectrum 48/128 from Sinclair and then produced the + machines ourselves. I do not believe
the (c) for ZXs or IF1/2 has anything to do with Amstrad.
"6) Does Amstrad own the rights to the QL as well?"
Someone asked me this before and I think our lawyer at that time said that we may have had the rights to the QL stuff but then sold it
on to someone else but I haven't a clue who.
"7) What is the legal position with regard to distributing ROMs from legal Spectrum clones such as the Timex 2048?"
Ask Timex. We only hold the copyright for code that was written by Sinclair or Amstrad for the Spectrum machines. I haven't a clue
about the Timex deal as it was done in the days before Amstrad were ever involved.
" 8) What is the legal position with regard to distributing ROMs from illegal Spectrum clones such as the Russian Scorpion and
Pentagon machines?"
Anyone pirating hardware/software should be shot.... though that may be to quick a death for them. Perhaps nailing them up by the
testicles using rusty nails would be the best thing to do to them?
"9) Is Amstrad happy for software owned by Sinclair to be distributed in a similar way?"
I think that the majority of software, even that 10/12 game pack bundled with + machines remains the copyrighted property of its
authors (Ocean etc.). Amstrad/Sincliar merely acted as a publishing house but I don't think that gave us the copyright to it, just an
agreed licence to make copies IYSWIM.
"10) What is Amstrad's policy on the distribution of electronic versions of Sinclair documentation?"
The more the merrier. People scanning, OCRing, HTMLing & PDFing any manuals that are genuinely (c)Amstrad are actually doing
us a favour because if someone asks for a copy we can just point them at a URL (please keep me informed!! ;-). So we'd welcome as
many of them to be put online as possible if people can take out the time and trouble to do it.
"I sincerly hope this is the last time you will be bothered with such questions. Thank you again for your time."
Your welcome. It's good to have the opportunity to make our position on this clear and I've cross-posted this to c.s.a.8 because it
applies equally well to all the CPC stuff (though some bits of that are also (c)Locomotive so you need to seek their permission too -
however I don't think there's ever a problem in so doing).
Cliff Lawson,
Amstrad plc