Windows XP Copyright Issues

[Adam Breik]

I can't figure out where to post this. I am an IT
Professional working with a non-profit university. We
often troubleshoot student, staff, faculty, etc. computers
running Windows XP. I am developing a CD for my
technicians to use full of useful tools (anti-virus,
spyware removal, drivers, etc.) and I wanted to include on
the CD the i686 folder off of a Windows XP CD which our
Department owns a site license for along with the boot
partition of the CD. This way the CD could be used to run
recovery consol should we need to repair an XP
installation. While this CD would not leave the office and
would never be used for a fresh install of XP, I was unsure
of the Copyright issues involved with distributing several
copies (like 30 ish) to all my techs.

 

[Guest]

Hi,

The folder i386 is a part of Windows and the copyright issue that applies
to the operating system applies to the folder as well.

You may not distribute any part of the cd in whole or part. Do not attempt
to copy this folder to another cd with the tools as this is clearly a
violation.

Regards
M. Rajesh
..Net and Windows Shell MVP
www.winxpsolution.com

 

[Tom]

Yeah, that's so practical Mr Rajesh. Ever hear of fair
use?

I'm no lawyer, but it's my understanding that if you've
paid for the appropricate licenses, that you are entitled
to transfer Windows to whatever media you need to in
order to install it. However, it needs to be made clear
that YOU (the university) owns those CD's, and not the
technicians.

Mr. Rajesh obviously doesn't know about all the tools
that Microsoft itself provides to efficiently copy
Windows for installation purposes. the OEM packages of
Windows include all kinds of tools to install customized
copies of Windows XP. Certainly every company with more
than a few computers on-site does exactly what you talk
about. Heck, I frequently sell paper licenses for XP and
Windows 2000 that have nothing but a CD key on them.

What I would do is use these tools avaialbe to create a
customized install that shows the university's
imformation in the Windows installation. Again, your
technicians should all understand that this CD is for the
school computers, and not for them to take home and
install on personal PC's or on student computers. At one
school I worked at, the school's install/diagnostic media
never left the office unless the tech was actually using
them.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

"I'm no lawyer"
That tells a lot, and also applies to me.
"but it's my understanding" not really relevant.
The agreement must be maintained, if an understanding is incorrect the
licensing at the university could be compromised at great expense if
the terms are violated.

If Mr. Rajesh is correct, that is obviously the correct route.
If not his paths still will not cause licensing issues.

The only real option is for the OP to contact his Microsoft
representative directly to get the facts to help maintain their own
integrity.
Newsgroups are a bad place to get answers to questions such as this
because of possible consequences and because as you said "I'm no
lawyer".

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Adam;
Contact your Microsoft representative directly to get the facts.
Newsgroups are a bad place to get answers to questions such as this
because of possible consequences.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

This matter has absolutely _nothing_ to do with "Fair Use," a
legal concept with which you are apparently completely unfamiliar.

"Fair use is a copyright principle based on the belief that the
public is entitled to freely use *portions* of copyrighted materials
for purposes of *commentary and criticism*. For example, if you wish
to criticize a novelist, you should have the freedom to quote a
portion of the novelist's work without asking permission. Absent this
freedom, copyright owners could stifle any negative comments about
their work."
(http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/index.html)
(Emphasis mine.)

"Judges use four factors in resolving fair use disputes, which are
discussed in detail below. It's important to understand that these
factors are only guidelines and the courts are free to adapt them to
particular situations on a case-by-case basis. In other words, a judge
has a great deal of freedom when making a fair use determination and
the outcome in any given case can be hard to predict.

"The four factors judges consider are:

1.. the purpose and character of your use
2.. the nature of the copyrighted work
3.. the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and
4.. the effect of the use upon the potential market. "
(http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/9-b.html)

Feel free to peruse the entire article, which will make it
abundantly clear that there is no way that anyone could successfully
argue that installing a second copy of an operation system onto a
second computer, without the copyright holder's express permission,
for the sole purpose of not having to buy a second license, could
possibly meet the criteria of "Fair Use."

To read the actual law that defines "fair use:"

TITLE 17 , CHAPTER 1 , Sec. 107.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html


Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. - RAH

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Legal considerations aside, as they've been adequately covered by
M. Rajesh, that folder would only be of any use on those machines
running the university's volume licensed software, and would work only
with the university's VL Product Key. It wouldn't do any good on the
various and assorted installations that most of the students and
faculty will have installed on their personal machines.

It would be best, in the long run, to train your technicians to
ask the customers to have their own installation CDs and Product Keys
readily available when scheduling a service call.

Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. - RAH

 

[/..]

By Wed, 1 Sep 2004 20:08:16 -0600, "Bruce Chambers"
<[email protected]> decided to post
"Re: Windows XP Copyright Issues" to
microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment:

Greetings --

This matter has absolutely _nothing_ to do with "Fair Use," a
legal concept with which you are apparently completely unfamiliar.

<>
Wow, the op didn't say anything about fair use.

Feel free to peruse the entire article, which will make it
abundantly clear that there is no way that anyone could successfully
argue that installing a second copy of an operation system onto a
second computer, without the copyright holder's express permission,
for the sole purpose of not having to buy a second license, could
possibly meet the criteria of "Fair Use."

Bruce Chambers

The op didn't say anything about making illegal installations on unlicensed
computers, either. Did you read the op's post? Either way, thanks for
long winded explanation of not applicable or non relevant material.

Making repair/utility disks for the express purpose of technical support of
licensed installations should be allowed under fair terms of the license,
which, along with applicable contract provisions and law are THE source for
the answer to the op's questions. This information is likely not best
discovered in a news group.

HTH,

/ts


--

find / -iname "*gw*" -exec rm -rf {} \;

In heaven, there is no beer,
That's why we drink it here,
And when we're all gone from here,
Our friends will be drinking all the beer!
-- Famous old Czech song about beer --

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Bruce was not responding to the OP in this post.
If you look, you will see Bruce was responding to Tom.
Also if you look at the bottom of Bruce's post, you will see what Tom
said.

If you do not see Tom's post, that is a problem with your newsreader
or your ISP.