What Happens To Old Software?

whatsit asks: "I was recently reminded of a little DOS database called Nutplus (also called Nutshell in its earlier versions) and decided to contact the company that owned it in hopes that they would open source it. After some research and some tears, I found that they may be out of business! I found a Web site address: www.fairsoft.com that doesn't work. The company's name is/was Fairhaven Software. I also came across an 800 number and a long distance number for them, but both ring busy. What happens to old software when the company that owns it goes out of business? How can I go about getting rights to the source code? Does anyone have experience with a similar situation? Do copyrights on these pieces of software ever expire?" Are there any ways to obtain the rights to software after the parent company is long gone (assuming the code happens to exist after the lifespan of said company)?

Comments

Re:still a good question

[Mignon]

I mean, it's not likely that today's computer programs will be of much use in 70 years

I wonder what's going to happen in 2038 when 32-bit time_t runs out...

Re:still a good question

[CharlieG]

I've got a similar question (that was rejected) - I'm interested in a piece of software - The original author posted the code with the note "This version is free to use, and here is the source, do what you like", but listed the software copyright his boss. The author the died (cancer). I called the company (NOT a software company), and they said (verbally only) Have fun, we have no interest in it. How do I go about getting the copyright, so I can release the code GPL'd?

www.fairsoft.com works for me!

[divec]

There's stuff there mentioning a Windows version. So I guess they're still in business.

Re:still a good question

[Spoing]

I wonder what's going to happen in 2038 when 32-bit time_t runs out...

It'll be a catastrophy! Worse then Y2K...well...er...ah...never mind.

Lots of Options

[brank]

There are sites dedicated to selling used copies of old software, or FTP sites with huge shareware archives that are never updated. You can FTPSearch if you know the file name.

If the software isn't free, then it usually ends up in the hands of somebody rather than just wasting away. See if you can find records of the company (or some the companies assests) being sold to some other company.

But this is part of a large issue. In the free software world, a number of sites are set up to "take in" software that the maintainer no longer develops until a new maintainer can be found. Also, the FTPSearching is a lot more reliable. Maybe an agency could be set up that would look for interesting proprietary software that is about to (or already has) leave the active development cycle and buy it. It could do things like selling remaining inventory or acting like a auction house for "dead" products.

still a good question

[evil_deceiver]

Yeah, the address works for me too, and seems to be the same company & the same software. But the question's still valid. I mean, what happens with shareware programs (especially crippled ones) when their author dies (as the creator of PKZip recently did), or the contact information circulated with the program ceases to be accurate? What happens to proprietary software when the company folds? IMO, it should become public domain, but U.S. copyright law doesn't work that way -- it protects creations for 70 years after the last author's death or 120 years after creation (assuming software is covered by this same law, which isn't entirely clear). In a lot of these cases, of course, source code simply won't be available. Should the public be allowed to use legal maneuvering to obtain source code for a program upon the author's death? I mean, it's not likely that today's computer programs will be of much use in 70 years, so ideally you'd want the source much sooner. But wouldn't that involve sort of a post-mortem violation of privacy? I don't know . . . .

Now, if the author or company disappears for whatever reason, but reappears later, or someone with a legitimate claim to ownership of the program is still around, opening the source or making the program public domain prematurely could be a big problem. I don't know; I don't seem to be providing many answers here. Oh well.