| ??? 10/07/09 19:52 Modified: 10/07/09 19:55 Read: times |
#169509 - That's the boilerplate to which I referred Responding to: ???'s previous message |
Andy Peters said:
Richard Erlacher said:
...especially of a web-published document? Ummm, there's one on this very site! If you carefully read the "boilerplate" in most datasheets and other spec's, they seldom are very specific about what you mustn't do unless it infringes on their economic rights, not their intellectual ones. The Virtex 4 Users Guide SECOND PAGE has a copyright notice: Xilinx Boilerplate Copyright notice said:
Xilinx is disclosing this user guide, manual, release note, and/or specification (the "Documentation") to you solely for use in the development of designs to operate with Xilinx hardware devices. You may not reproduce, distribute, republish, download, display, post, or transmit the Documentation in any form or by any means including, but not limited to, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of Xilinx. Xilinx expressly disclaims any liability arising out of your use of the Documentation. Xilinx reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change the Documentation without notice at any time. Xilinx assumes no obligation to correct any errors contained in the Documentation, or to advise you of any corrections or updates. Xilinx expressly disclaims any liability in connection with technical support or assistance that may be provided to you in connection with the Information.
THE DOCUMENTATION IS DISCLOSED TO YOU “AS-IS” WITH NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. XILINX MAKES NO OTHER WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, REGARDING THE DOCUMENTATION, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS. IN NO EVENT WILL XILINX BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, SPECIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOSS OF DATA OR LOST PROFITS, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE DOCUMENTATION. © 2004-2008 Xilinx, Inc. All rights reserved. XILINX, the Xilinx logo, the Brand Window, and other designated brands included herein are trademarks of Xilinx, Inc. The PowerPC name and logo are registered trademarks of IBM Corp. and used under license therefrom. All other trademarks are the property of their respectiveowners. That seems pretty clear-cut to me. "You may not reproduce, distribute, ..." specifically disallows publishing the data sheet on your web site. Whether Xilinx chooses to enforce this is entirely their decision. The lawyers won't waste time if they can't make money That is not true -- there are many many examples of companies filing copyright- and trademark-infringement lawsuits which are intended only to stop another party from using a product or company name. Let's see: my pals in New Jersey had a quite-good punk-rock band called American Standard. After almost a decade of using this name, the plumbing company American Standard decided to sue to force the band to stop using the name. The intent was not to win a monetary settlement, but instead to simply "protect the brand name." The band won. ... and why do you think the band won? and the courts won't do it either if there isn't some form of monetary damage. The courts don't decide who sues whom! The court is obligated to hear cases brought before it by competent legal counsel. Actually, that's not strictly true... they hear what they think they can resolve. If a case is already essentially resolved, either by the prior inaction of a plaintiff or the reasonable action of a defendant, they won't mess with the accomplished fact either. -a The band won because they'd been doing what they were doing for a long time. That's been seen in court cases over and over again. Lawsuits like that are common when a BIG company wants to smother a little one, but the courts don't always support them. The smothering comes from the legal defense cost, of course, but ... when the courts get a case wherein non-competitors are threatened, they generally don't like being used as a bludgeon. They often enough order the BIG guy who's lost to pay the costs of the little guy who won. If they've allowed some infringement, e.g. some sites other than their own distributing access to material of which the copyright is really theirs, they've no basis for objecting to other non-competitors' use of the name. It goes back to monetary damages. If American Standard, the plumbing fixture house, were in competition with the band, well, say, because they had a record company called "American Standard Music" then the outcome would likely have been different. Just consider the age-old overlap between Apple Records and Apple Computer. Only recently has there been valid cause of action. What do you think would have happened if Altera had decided to web-publish one of Xilinx' datasheets as part of a product comparison? There are countless component search sites that make XILINX and ALTERA datasheet available, and charge you for access, too. They're reselling copyrighted material on the www, yet that doesn't seem to get either of the copyright holders excited. RE |
