Cebus Capucinis

Alright! This is becoming a reality very quickly! Can't wait!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4ee-0s-r-A

Yes, but it's a very good thing that Matlock has lost a case! A very good thing for the homebrew community because it means we can have no worries about legal problems with all these great games people are making!

Okay I will sign the PayPal screen! I was only speaking metaphorically when I said "where do I sign the check"....but I will sign whatever I need to get a delicious new release!

Where do I sign the check?

It wasn't me, sadly.

Hmm....I agree that you have a point on repurposing vs. reproduction. Honestly there isn't a legal precedent in this instance to actually come to a definitive conclusion since there hasn't been any lawsuit relating specific to these circumstances, and in way of there being no precedent, simple copyright doctrine would be the only precedent and it is not eligible. My only question would be if there is a separate trademark on the cartridges themselves rather than the games as a whole, but even then it probably wouldn't matter! Basically what you and I are doing is a very big Ouroboros thing! Your #1 argument for defense in one case is my #1 argument for prosecution in another case. First-sale doctrine doesn't apply due to material difference, but if you prove material difference, then the general copyright infringement is null and void anyhow, because you've already proved it's materially different enough. If it's not materially different enough, then it's fair-use because of first-sale doctrine. No matter how you slice that up, on at least one front the defense would be capable of proving the logical fallacy in the prosecution's case and therefore there would be no grounds for infringement. Basically you could only prove first-sale invalid if you claim that the game as a whole is the product considered....and if you do that you can't sue on grounds for infringement on the cartridge copyright..... and then you couldn't sue on the flip-side by claiming copyright infringement on the product as a whole simply due to the cartridge being an originally produced product. A snake eating its own tail! That's really interesting that it's how it would pan out. I think you are correct in stating that a cartridge in itself is not eligible for copyright or trademark protections in the sense I am using. I doff my hat to you for seeing the over-reaching strategy here! I think I was too busy doing it piecemeal instead of seeing the bigger picture in this case. This is why copyright law is so complicated! Haha! I struck out my other post. I believe I am incorrect in this assumption! Well done legal clinic! Promotions all around!

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15/1114.html My linkhttp://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/CourtCases/7thCircuitCOA/LEEvART.shtml http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/CourtCases/2ndCircuitCOA/BatlinVsSnyder.shtml http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/CourtCases/9thCircuitCOA/HerbertRosenthalJewelry_v_Kalpakian.shtml No, it doesn't. In my post I did not state the condition of the item, I stated the item as it existed. In recreating a cartridge under a different name a material difference exists between the original product and the reproduced product. If proven that a material difference does exist, the item is no longer eligible for first-sale criteria. Under 15 U.S.C. Section 1114, if there exists a material difference, it is no longer first-sale doctrine eligible. The question would be whether inserting a different PCB and making it a different game exhibits a material difference, which I honestly would like to see in a courtroom, it's an interesting theory and I'm not really sure how it would pan out. If I buy Pac-Man and turn it into Missile Command, I'm no longer eligible for first-sale of Pac-Man, now am I? And no, there isn't grey area -- You I was wrong in my first post, and you're I'm wrong in my second, too.

I would have pointed this out in the original thread (it's now locked) but the analysis is flawed with regards to carts. There's no reason to send a legal request to use empty carts or circuit boards in a homebrew project. Copyright only applies to the reproduction of artistic works. Reusing the original carts, circuits, or physical roms - even in a modified form - doesn't cause a spontaneous copy to be created. This would only be the case if you tried to create injection molds and new parts from an original cart. Similarly, trademarks on the cart labels follow the exhaustion doctrine, aka first-sale doctrine. That's not necessarily true either. If you want to get technical about it, cart producers maintain a filed patent on their product -- if that patent has not expired you are actually infringing by using their product. That filed patent offers legal protections that are very, very similar to a copyright. If you look at the definition of copyright as defined in the United States it covers "all works in a tangible form" -- this includes things above and beyond artistic works. This link enlightens a bit more: Copyright.gov The categories of a copyright are defined in 8 main categories of tangible work. If you will read page two, this clearly states: "These categories should be viewed broadly." Simply because something isn't 100% a "book" or a "CD" doesn't mean it's not copyright eligible. Arguably, the creation of a piece of plastic made to certain specifications could be considered an "artistic work" even under your rigid definition of what a copyright applies to, as it is a unique representation of a form factor. That form factor just happens to hold a PCB very well and happens to fit exactly with another piece of plastic that has another form factor that hooks up to a form factor of plastic that displays form factors of electronic images, but in each of these instances these "form factors" represent a unique and individual piece of work. This is why it is a broad interpretation. You simply can't just use the argument of "well, it doesn't count as an artistic representation" as a methodology for defense. Artistic creation is a varied and wide spectrum and the categories are meant as guidelines rather than rigid doctrines. That's why Ron Popeil's informercial items have copyrights on them. Are they Van Gogh paintings? No. Are they Salomon Rushdie works? No. But they ARE individual artistic representations that warrant classification under copyright protection. Each of these is implied to have artistic merit in and of themselves and the original creators are granted rights under those respective merits. First-sale doctrine is a grey area but generally only applies to re-selling of the product -as it exists-. If you split apart a cartridge and make a new game out of it, you've made a completely new product. Theoretically that product could be in direct competition with an original manufacturer. But that's the product as a whole and not the individual parts. Arguably you did not purchase just the cartridge, you purchased the entire game itself, and since you have not made a copy of the game itself, you would likely be safe under first-sale doctrine. But you could still get caught under patent law. This is where repurposing comes into play. If you are significantly repurposing the cartridge, it is likely fair use and not a problem. The short version of this is: Is a 'cart' considered an artistic work in one form? Yes. Does copyright only apply to "artistic works" as you say? No, and even if it did, it would still count. Does first-sale doctrine and exhaustion apply in this case? That one's fishy, but I'd err on the side of 'no' rather than 'yes' simply for my pocketbook and lack of ability to pay attorney's fees sake.

I'll PM you about it, I don't know if they want a lot of publicity right now.

Do you have the Eugene PCjr Club CD with all the software on it? Louie sent it to me a while back. If I can find it and you don't have it do you want a copy? For the record it may take me an incredibly long time to find it. I put my Jr back in the closet as I haven't been using it and I needed the desk for my A8 setup, but I'm sure it's in there somewhere with my newsletters.

I have a set of aftermarket ones by the company in China that made all the Spectravision third-party joysticks and whatnot. I've never tried them actually, it just doesn't seem like it would work very well.

I used to have one of these! When I go see my parents this week I will have to ask if they still have it. I had the 'Sports Time' one. They were just chintzy little LCD games but I was the coolest kid in the elementary school lunchroom for a week! They bought it used because I wasn't around in '81 -- I think they found it at a garage sale or something. It didn't have all the games on it, IIRC, just football or something.... Now that I think of it I might have had one of those Mattel knock-off ones they made. I can't remember.

Sorry guys, I had to work at 5:30PM-2:00 AM because we have store inventory at work. I am PMing all winners currently.

45 minutes....if you're going to snipe.....please PM!

See? They're more advanced than I am even! Someday I hope to find it, some day....

Hmmm....Starflight and Starflight 2 you say?

Depends on what you have to trade, I guess -- I was mostly looking for green pictures of dead people to trade for a Space Invaders arcade cabinet, but I have figured out the funding problem on that note and might be up for trades!

It went to menu too quickly! Crazy! Well my score was 252,870 when I grabbed my camera!

So I just played it and my score was 109,820 but just like someone else said the ATR image is screwy! Once I hit 105k or in that neighborhood the graphics for the bottom half of the screen REALLY messed up. I played as much as I could but could only complete the level I was on, and that barely put me short of 110k......

Well, we would like payment ASAP but let's be honest, with the economy and everything, if you need to hold an item for a few days or so before payment, at least in my auctions I will give you that option. The money will still go where it's supposed to, but if holding onto it for a few extra days means we get to donate an additional amount to the cause, more power to ya I say!

Alright time to fire this baby up and play some HSC!

an RPG-type game would be really cool to have! I would like to see more space-shooty stuff like Juno First and the like. More platformers too! MAZE GAMES! Etc. I would also like Pac-Man Collection on it, perhaps a re-issue.....hint hint hint

You're still winning that 5200