SpookGoblin
Offline

I'd like to release a future album on CD but also include a 3.5" floppy which would contain a bonus track that only turbo-nerds still owning floppy drives could access.  I freely admit my ignorance of any legal issues that could ensue.  I suppose that leads me to my query: are there any complications in such a scenario?  I ask mostly because copyright laws in the U.S. can get quite dodgy and convoluted if one isn't up to snuff with language of the law (which I also admit to being relatively ignorant of).

Yes, the data on the recordable media is mine to sell and redistribute.
No, the logo/brand name on the physical media is not mine.  Does it matter...?  Am I looking into this too much?

arfink
Offline
Minneapolis

We're talking about things like the company logo of the manufacturer of the floppy? If so, I wouldn't worry. It shouldn't be an issue AFAIK. Lots of companies over the years have sold software that ships on branded cassette tapes, VHS tapes, floppies, and even CD-Rs.

kineticturtle
Offline
Matthew Joseph Payne

There are some people here who are super in tune with copyright law, but I've never ever heard of an example of the media manufacturer's logo being an issue. Keep in mind that the purpose of blank media is to be recorded on for storage or distribution. Good on you to be concerned with the details though!

SpookGoblin
Offline
arfink wrote:

We're talking about things like the company logo of the manufacturer of the floppy? If so, I wouldn't worry. It shouldn't be an issue AFAIK. Lots of companies over the years have sold software that ships on branded cassette tapes, VHS tapes, floppies, and even CD-Rs.

I had figured as much since floppies have long been in deep neglect.  Even if those companies are still in operation, most of them probably aren't paying much attention to the whereabouts of their outdated storage media.

I really just wanted to make sure because I am personally quite attached to the idea and want to make it happen without any risk of an infringement.

arfink
Offline
Minneapolis

Well, I think in the case of physical objects with a logo on them the law of first sale would protect you there. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to sell, say, your old Ford Pinto because it had a copyrighted Ford logo on it.

SpookGoblin
Offline
arfink wrote:

Well, I think in the case of physical objects with a logo on them the law of first sale would protect you there. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to sell, say, your old Ford Pinto because it had a copyrighted Ford logo on it.

I definitely see where you're coming from.  The biggest difference, however, is that I am selling the work and claiming it as my own.
John Smith wouldn't sell his Ford Pinto under the pretense that it was another fine product from John Smith.
In the case of the floppy, though, I am not claiming the physical disk as my work of art but rather its contents.  So, like the album CD, which I did not manufacture, what is being claimed as mine seems to be virtually one in the same.

This is why I ask, though--there are technicalities that I know I'm not aware of.
These sorts of distinctions have such murky borders of definition...

SketchMan3
Offline
NC in the US of America

I bought some new floppies in like 2008. they sucked. Corrupted way too easily.

Last edited by SketchMan3 (Feb 25, 2014 4:36 am)

herr_prof
Offline
Unsubscribe

http://www.lawmart.com/forms/difference.htm

herr_prof
Offline
Unsubscribe
SketchMan3 wrote:

I bought some new floppies in like 2008. they sucked. Corrupted way too easily.

From what I understand there is no "new" floppies, just new old stock.

tempsoundsolutions
Offline
TSSBAY01

i think with NOS floppies its probably best to write and delete data a few times before passing them on..i remember toward the end of using them hearing that, tried it, and did notice a bit of difference. a few years back i had some probs with my dos machine and used a boot disk from probably the early 2000s, so who knows. maybe copy a bunch of data 3 or 4 times and experiment with that with a few drives if youve got access.

SpookGoblin
Offline
tempsoundsolutions wrote:

i think with NOS floppies its probably best to write and delete data a few times before passing them on..i remember toward the end of using them hearing that, tried it, and did notice a bit of difference. a few years back i had some probs with my dos machine and used a boot disk from probably the early 2000s, so who knows. maybe copy a bunch of data 3 or 4 times and experiment with that with a few drives if youve got access.

Ahh I see!  That would be about the closest thing I could get to quality assurance and the like.
Definitely a step I hadn't thought of.  Thanks for bringing it up!

SketchMan3
Offline
NC in the US of America
herr_prof wrote:
SketchMan3 wrote:

I bought some new floppies in like 2008. they sucked. Corrupted way too easily.

From what I understand there is no "new" floppies, just new old stock.

Hmmm... well let me rephrase that: The assorted colors memorex floppies that I got in 2008 died easily.

Last edited by SketchMan3 (Feb 25, 2014 11:33 pm)

herr_prof
Offline
Unsubscribe

Yea well lemons are lemons big_smile

SpookGoblin
Offline
SketchMan3 wrote:

Hmmm... well let me rephrase that: The assorted colors memorex floppies that I got in 2008 died easily.

Lucky for me, I rarely trust assorted colors big_smile

3ndymion
Offline
NYC

Would selling your music on floppy disks really present a legal issue???  I'm certainly no expert in law, but that sounds like a bit much for any company to try to go after.  If you bought something, it is yours.  It's not like you got some disks & are trying to resell them blank for a profit at a crazy high price, saying that you created the disks or whatever.  I think that would be like a company trying to sue you because you recorded your music on their blank CDs & didn't give them your profits from your sales.  I don't think you have anything to worry about by selling your music on some floppy disks, or at least, I'd sure hope so.

yogi
Offline
Jelly Stone park, MD USA

Interesting question, but I think the issue is confused a little. I don't know squat but aren't there two issues: the Copyrighted material, your intellectual property, and the Trade Mark rights of the floppy manufacturer?
You are selling a limited use right of your copyrighted material, on a trademarked medium that carries an intended resale right.
  Regardless of any added value, you can resell floppies unless expressly forbidden; really the only restriction is the cost you pay as opposed to the resale cost, which is a business decision rather then legal. If I were to go to the the XYZ floppy factory and buy a case of floppies at wholesale and then go to a street corner, I could resell the XYZ floppies at the cost that either I agreed to with XYZ or the market price if there isn't a MSRP agreed to. But If I try to sell the floppies as TDK floppies well then I have a problem with TDK and their TM rights.
I think the only issue you would have is removing/replacing the manufacturers TM. But like I said, I don't know.
Yogi
EDIT: after a little searching I found this at DiskMakers

Duplicator, printer, and blank media/supplies order terms

Intellectual Property Rights Protection
Disc Makers' Anti-Piracy Compliance Program protects property rights owners from the unauthorized distribution of their content.
Customers purchasing CD and DVD duplicators, blank recordable media, and other hardware and supplies warrant that they will use the equipment and media only for legitimate uses that do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties.

This seems to imply that for legally owned material,  you are free to use their media and equipment for your own commercial purposes. I'm sure other companies have similar policies.

Last edited by yogi (Feb 26, 2014 9:53 pm)