PROMs and Copyrights...

[Greg Hermann]

>One of Garfield's last posts to the list was a summary of a conversation
>he had with his attorney and a patent attorney about reverse
>engineering.  It's too long to reproduce here, but it's in the archives
>right here:
>
>http://efi332.eng.ohio-state.edu/diy_efi/archive/archive_num_100;lines=5816
>6-58305
>
>Bottom line is that the patent/copyright system is designed to protect
>the inventions, while allowing others access to them, and allowing these
>others to incrementally improve them.  While having their improvements
>also protected.
>
>--steve
>
>Mike wrote:
>>
>> I know this is a stupid question and it's not directly EFI-related, but can
>> someone educate me on the legalities, specifically, copyrights and
>> software/firmware,  associated with reading OEM PROMs, "reverse engineering"
>> them and even on "publishing" findings on, say, one's web page? Does reading
>> the PROM not constitute making a copy of the firmware? Is this automatically
>> "illegal"?

But be aware that if you publish your work on your web page, that would
constitute a public disclosure of it. And you have one year from the date
of a public disclosure of an idea to file a patent application on anything
in that disclosure which might be patentable, or it automatically goes into
the public domain for all to use freely. Publishing  an idea to this list ,
or one like it would probably also constitute a public disclosure for the
purposes of starting the one year clock ticking.

Not as familiar with copyright law, but I think that if you note each page
(maybe just the title page) of something with the copyright symbol, you
have reserved the right to file for a copyright on it for a fixed length of
time after the date that you first distribute the material. (Forget whether
the length of time to actually file for a copyright is one, two or three
years.)

These are not legal opinions--just recollections from having dealt with the
issues involved on a personal and/or professional basis.

Regards, Greg