Hello, The reverse engineering is in a way a confusing issue because there are two things that presumably affect it. On the one hand there are the click-by licenses and then there is the copyright law.
Now, in general, if privately made agreement is in contradiction with the law, then the law overrides the agreement. There are examples of that in consumer protection cases with warranties shorter than those mandated by the laws being shown invalid. The same seems to apply to the uses of computer programs allowed by the copyright legislation. If you are legal licensee of a computer program, you are allowed to study it in order to figure out its operation if you need to make an interoperable program and the interface information has not been made available for you. This is in line with the similar allowances of studying hardware to make interoperable products. For legal links see: Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programs http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31991L0250:EN:HTML -------------------------------------------------------- Article 6 Decompilation 1. The authorization of the rightholder shall not be required where reproduction of the code and translation of its form within the meaning of Article 4 (a) and (b) are indispensable to obtain the information necessary to achieve the interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs, provided that the following conditions are met: (a) these acts are performed by the licensee or by another person having a right to use a copy of a program, or on their behalf by a person authorized to to so; (b) the information necessary to achieve interoperability has not previously been readily available to the persons referred to in subparagraph (a); and (c) these acts are confined to the parts of the original program which are necessary to achieve interoperability. 2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not permit the information obtained through its application: (a) to be used for goals other than to achieve the interoperability of the independently created computer program; (b) to be given to others, except when necessary for the interoperability of the independently created computer program; or (c) to be used for the development, production or marketing of a computer program substantially similar in its expression, or for any other act which infringes copyright. 3. In accordance with the provisions of the Berne Convention for the protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the provisions of this Article may not be interpreted in such a way as to allow its application to be used in a manner which unreasonably prejudices the right holder's legitimate interests or conflicts with a normal exploitation of the computer program. -------------------------------------------------------- There is similar statement in Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 in UK, Section 50B and US Copyright Law (Title 17 Chapter 12 ?1201(f)), and also in Finnish copyright law 8.7.1961/404, 25 j ? (24.3.1995/446). So, basically, if a scanner vendor does not provide a driver for Linux, you are allowed to make one yourself and in that process use all means you need to figure out the interface, even decompilation. However, you are not allowed to publish (private communication does not constitute publication so in the course of the necessary research you can consult others) the results other than the specifications thus discovered to make it possible to make the interoperable driver. Discalimer: This posting shall not be taken as legal advice but is provided for information only and accuracy of the information is in no way guaranteed. With best regards, Lauri Pirttiaho Oulu Finland ................................................................... Luukku Plus paketilla p??set eroon tila- ja turvallisuusongelmista. Hanki Luukku Plus ja helpotat el?m??si. http://www.mtv3.fi/luukku
