Modules purchased?

What are the stipulations on purchased modules from the market when a vendor has left or been banned?

Is it ok to share with someone to "fix" the things in the module I cannot?

You mean... you have a newer (fixed) version of the same module? I'd say giv'r in that case...

 Yes, I had one fixed to work with 7.1

I guess the real question is; I have these modules, I cannot get to the creator, they are gone... completely. Out of Business..

Does this mean I can "share" the modules? 

good question, yes and no.
Mr.Boon should answer this one.

Well let me say a thought about this.  I have a mod called surveys it is an excellent mod but the developer made it for a third party who is no longer with Dolphin and the developer is still with Dolphin.  I have discussed with the developer and even offered him to finish the Mod with no luck.  Look the Mod I still need and if the developer won't finish it and refers me to the person who is no longer here and also just won't entertain finishing the mod for a fee what other choice does a person have but to get someone to finish it.  

The mod is lacking the membership level aspect or in other words it just does not appear in the options for membership so a person can use or not use the mod.  Because of this the end user can never take the survey because they don't see it under their membership level.  It also now will need to be updated to 7.1 as well.  My thoughts are if I tried to get the developer to fix it or update it and he can't or won't then to me it is fair game to anyone who has the ability to take it to the next level...Seems completely fair to me...and advances my reassurance that if I buy something and a developer dies, disappears, gets arrested, or goes on a Dolphin sabbatical, I can keep moving forward toward my goals...    

I have the same problem which I asked here http://www.boonex.com/forums/#topic/Module-updates-and-7-1.htm

The external advise I was given,

Other people's copyright works -
 
As well as owning copyright works yourself, you may wish to make use of someone else's copyright protected works.  There are certain very specific situations where you may be permitted to do so without seeking permission from the owner.
 

Obtaining a licence from a copyright owner - This is based on UK and European Law -

If you want to use a work that is under copyright, it is likely that you will need to approach the copyright owner in order to obtain a licence unless one of the exceptions to copyright that may allow you to use a limited amount of the work applies.
 

Exclusive licence

An exclusive licence could be granted, but remember that this enables the licensee to use the copyright work to the exclusion of all others, including the copyright owner. Any licence agreed can relate to one or more of the economic rights and can also be limited in time or any other way. It is a contractual agreement between the copyright owner and user.
 

Limited use licence

Often a copyright owner will only give permission for some uses of a work, for example, publication of a photograph in a particular newspaper, and if you want to use the work in any other way, for example, by publishing the photograph in a magazine, you will need to seek further permission.
 

Creative commons licence

Some people prefer to allow limited access to their work without charge. One way to do this is by using a Creative Commons Licence .
 

Collecting Societies

In some situations, copyright owners find it difficult to license use of their works by themselves and so they have formed organisations, called collecting societies or collective licensing bodies.  These act collectively on their behalf to give permissions, grant licences and collect royalties.  Further information on collecting societies is available.

If your use does not fall within these exceptions then you may consider buying the copyright or, as is more usually the case, obtaining a licence from the owner for your agreed use.
 
Locating the copyright owner can sometimes be difficult but failure to get permission may result in legal action against you.

So to put it in context  (As most licences from Boonex Market contain this "It cannot be modified for other than personal usage", you can modifiy the module yourself or some one can tell you how to do it, but the third party can not be given the module or modify it on your behalf.

I have been looking into this "If a seller advertise's a module Dolphin Compatibility: 7.x and Compatibility: 7.X it does not mater when it was purchased it should be 7.X compatibale and they should stand by this. (this is a breach of contract - in this case it is in writing), but there is no point in pushing this at the moment as 7.1 is still in beata

Do what you gotta do surely.

If it is a matter of copyright:

1. The copyright would be that of the countries in which the work was copyrighted.  If the work was not registered (in one or more countries), then it will fall solely under the copyright laws of the country the developer resides in even if not registered.  For example, in the USA all works are automatically copyrighted by the creator of the work even if the work is not registered with the USA copyright office.  Registering is solely for legal purposes; not to obtain the copyright as that is automatically created at the time the work is created.  Therefore, one needs to determine the country of the developer and to try to see if the work was registered with any copyright office to properly determine what copyright rules will apply.

2. Check to see how copyright is transferred after death; does it automatically pass to the estate? If no and the copyright is not left to an estate, does it become public domain?  If no estate, then does the work become public domain?

And there is always this, do what you have to do and worry about any possible lawsuits later; if any.

You can go through the legalize all day and all will take a different opinion on the matter.  I want to try to make this easy:

If 1+2 = 3  but 2 is missing and 1 was written by others but won't work without 2 if 2 is added by others is that not to the benefit of the person who added #2?  If #1 doesn't want to play anymore?  It appears that if it is any other way then #1 could sit back and wait for #2 to solve the issues and benefit from it.  

Really to me it comes back to playing in the proverbial sandbox.  If you want to play great you will get paid but if not and other programming is needed then the person who made it work should get paid whatever you agreed on.  I mean we are not talking about a script that is killing it in the market or online either.  It's a simple mod nobody bought...

If it was something that is killing it when it comes to money I digress...

Don't ask, Don't tell.

I see no problem with posting the fix on the module's support forum thread (create a new thread if you have to).  I suggest you make it clear to readers that you got (paid?) someone, other than the module developer, to fix the code... thus letting others know the module was/is not supported.  Of course if you ended up paying someone a significant amount of money to rewrite large sections of code, because the module was poorly written, then post the fact that you had to do that and ask other module owners to SHARE the fee to fix it.  If the module developer/owner wants the code-fixes then ask them to cover your costs to fix their code.

Thanks for all the feedback; I thought since Andrew had posted on another topic earlier he might have seen this one.

Although I did not pay this super programmer among us here, they deserve all the credit for super quick turn around and the module was update in several places.

I see no problem with posting the fix on the module's support forum thread (create a new thread if you have to).

I had actually done just that for one of the other modules the vendor had and I purchased, but really got no responses.

I had to manually change pages of misc wording that was all incorrect, and to tailor to fit my site.

But of course said module creator didn't tell you that until after purchase and wanted to charge to "fit" my sites.. well I won't go any further than that.

I think we should be able to do this as these modules were not cheap.

BTW:

Made in Germany..

copyright            : (C) 2010 Dolphin Mods

website              : http://www.dolphin-mods.com

www.dolphin-mods.com was allowed to expire and now has those awful adverts.

members that have been here long enough will know this entity, they operated under several names.. none of which are online.

Copyright does not protect ideas for a work.  It is only when the work itself is fixed, for example in writing, that copyright automatically protects it. This means that you do not have to apply for copyright.

If you wish to use someone else's material which is still protected by copyright, and if there is no exception to copyright which covers your desired use, you need to seek the permission of the right holder before you can legally use the material in question.

You may therefore need to consider who owns or controls the rights in the material. This person could be:
the creator of the material or their heirs, or
the creator's employer, or
anyone else to whom the rights in the material have been sold, or otherwise transferred or licensed, or
a collective licensing society which has been asked to collect fees on behalf of the rights holder.

You should remember that as copyright is an automatic right, there are no registers that can be checked to locate the creator or right holder in a work. There are though organisations representing copyright owners who may be able to assist you in tracking them down.

The copyright protection for many works will continue for 70 years after the creator or owner of the rights in a work has died. The rights will have transferred to someone else, perhaps through testamentary deposition (a will) or by inheritance. If there was no will, or if the creator of the work has not specified where the rights in the material should go, then the normal rules of inheritance will apply. (These rules are not specific to copyright, and advice should be sought from a legal adviser.)

When a company goes out of business or ceases trading, any copyright it may own continues for the customary copyright duration. The rights will be part of the assets of the company, and may be sold or otherwise dealt with by the company or its liquidator, etc.

If you wish to trace a right holder, there is no official body that can help you directly,

Use of a copyright protected work without its owner’s permission may be a civil infringement and/or a criminal offence depending on the circumstances. If you cannot trace the copyright owner you should take legal advice before using any material that may be in copyright.

Ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the law

The licence is what; the licence states nothing more nothing less. Please use extreme caution, if you do get a third party to modify a module on your behalf (that you purchased) that you do not assign them any credit for the changes as they may become party to a breach of Civil Law unknowingly by their actions.

“Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other.”  Mark Twain

 The reason for all this is I think useful modules should be fixed and used by me if I own it. So until I get some type of cease and desist letter, I'm going forward with this module only because of the mobile side of it and one of my sites pertaining only to business locations and directions.. The mobile app is not the best yet but that is why I working on it.

Newton - This may cover you

VI.D.3. Section 117 Adaptations

Most computer programs are covered by a series of copyrights, each coming into being when a portion of the program is written or modified. The copyright on each nontrivial modification is as a derivative work of some preexistent program. One of the exclusive rights of a copyright owner is the right to control the preparation of any derivative works, so generally only somebody with the permission of the copyright owner can modify a computer program.

There is a special exception in Section 117 that permits the owner of a copy of a computer program “to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner.” {FN107: 17 U.S.C. §117} This exception recognizes that it is sometimes necessary to configure or otherwise modify a computer program as part of its installation or to run it. While in theory this adaptation exception would allow somebody to redo Microsoft Access to run on a Macintosh, in reality such an adaptation even with access to the source code would be impractical for an individual user.

Note that Section 117 also requires the permission of the computer program’s copyright owner to transfer the adaptations you have made. So Section 117’s adaptation right is personal to each owner of a copy of a computer program and does not allow the sharing of such adaptations

Thanks for that info.

This is for the PM I got.. The images you are seeing are screenshots of our mobile App one my Android phone.

Newton - This is the Quote from EU Law - which covers Germany (where if I am right the module developer resides)

Directive 2009/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the legal protection of computer programs (Codified version) (Text with EEA relevance).

Decompilation

The authorisation of the rightholder is not required where reproduction of the code and translation of its form 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:

• those acts are performed by the licensee or another person having a right to use a copy of a program;
• the information necessary to achieve interoperability has not previously been readily available;
• those acts are confined to the parts of the original program which are necessary in order to achieve interoperability.