[News] Serious allegations about H&P | ANN.lu |
Posted on 08-Nov-2001 14:17 GMT by Christian Kemp | 164 comments View flat View list |
Amigo follows up on serious allegations about H&P and says: "I also just asked Unisys as it says here, and am waiting for a reply. If true, H&P could probably be forced to close."
[ If H&P indeed didn't pay royalties for Unisys' GIF algorithm, they might not be forced to close per se, but if this is indeed true, and Unisys decides to sue, they might have to pay some serious fines. Also note that while this is not in unmoderated, it's highly speculative, unconfirmed and generally should be taken with the usual grain of salt - CK ]
|
|
List of all comments to this article |
Serious allegations about H&P : Comment 64 of 164 | ANN.lu |
Posted by Ben Hermans/Hyperion on 09-Nov-2001 11:03 GMT | In reply to Comment 59 (David Gerber): @David Gerber
Okay, one last try.
>- the license is not transferable to H&P and they simply cannot sell AmiTCP
Correct to some extent. Note that as a rule the license is transferable unless the contract between the developers and Wiles provided otherwise.
>- the license is transferable to H&P thus they must pay the license fee for >every "OS" 3.9 unit sold
Not necessarily.
First of all, this presupposes that the contract with Wiles imposes a per unit royalty on H&P and not a "lump sum" payment (which I believe was the case).
You could license a piece of software and say "if you pay me 15K, you will get a license". Nothing forces you to negotiate or demand a per copy royalty or indeed prevents you from granting a royalty-free license (which makes little sense in a commercial context, granted.)
Secondly, there is no direct contractual relationship between the parties.
x grants rights to y
y grants rights to z
legally does not create a contractual relationship between x and z.
Z can't sue x and vice versa ON THE BASIS OF THE CONTRACT because they are not a party to the respective agreement.
X and Y can sue each other and y and z (on the basis of the contract) but that's where it ends.
Contract-law as a rule does not allow rights and obligations being conferred on third parties.
Maybe you will start to understand that the law is as complex as software development and that whilst I don't presume to know much about that, it is time for you to realise that you may be out of your depth with respect to the law.
You are reasoning based on common sense and instinct rather than knowledge of contract law.
In short: if I were your lawyer, I would advise you to sue Chris Wiles. As a lawsuit against H&P would have little to no chance of success. |
|
List of all comments to this article (continued) |
|
- User Menu
-
- About ANN archives
- The ANN archives is powered by #AmigaZeux. It was updated daily (news last: 22-Oct-2004; comments last: 18-May-2005).
ANN.lu was created, previously owned and maintained by Christian Kemp, www.ckemp.com.
- Contribute
- Not possible at this time!
- Search ANN archives
- Advanced search
- Hosting
- ANN.lu was hosted by Dreamhost. Sign up through this link, mention "ckemp" as referrer and he will get a 10% commission on any account you purchase.
Please show your appreciation for any past, present and future work on ANN.lu by making a contribution via PayPal.
|