@database SHARECOMPILATION @$VER: 0.8 6.03.95 @author "Martin Kopp" @(c) "Copyright 1994,1995 Martin Kopp, Mannheim, Germany." @index HeddleyAutoIndex @remark Created with the help of Heddley v1.1 (c) Edd Dumbill 1994 @node "Main" "SHARECOMPILATION - English Guide." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "Copyright" @{b}@{u}Sharecompilation@{ub}@{uu} The sharecompilation ('share' "... 2 a: to partake of, use, experience, occupy, or enjoy with others ..." Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition) of Software - short sharecompilation - is a concept for the assembling, the production and the distribution of reasonable large arrangements of all kinds of shareware, freeware, public domain and similar software. This document describes such a concept in detail and suggests the use of it to bring high quality sets of freely distributable software and/or data to a broad audience. If you are using the hypertext version of this document, then you are now only a mouseclick away from: @{" copyright statement address author. " link "Copyright" 0} @{" title, revision availability information. " link "TitleRevisionAvailability" 0} @{" short introduction concept sharecompilation. " link "ShortIntroduction" 0} @{" detailed table contents. " link "TableOfContents" 0} @{" document' section hurried readers. " link "HowToRead" 0} @{" 'What's revision' summary. " link "WhatsNew" 0} If you are reading the 'text only' version you have to scroll your way to the relevant sections. @endnode @node "Copyright" "SHARECOMPILATION - Copyright." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "TitleRevisionAvailability" @prev "Main" @{b}@{u}Copyright.@{ub}@{uu} This text is Copyright 1994,1995 by Martin Kopp Frankenstr. 34 D-68259 Mannheim Germany This text may not be changed in any way. It may however be distributed in its original form at no cost. But I would prefer to be noticed about any large scale distribution. There are no fees or other constraints for the usage of the concept that is unfold in this text. Feel free to use it but if you want to reference it in a legal context you have to use the following phrase: "Sharecompilation Rev. 0.8 as defined by Martin Kopp, Mannheim, Germany" (See the @{"'What's revision'" link "WhatsNew" 0} section for information on the old identification phrase, that was introduced in Rev. 0.7 and included a @{"'MSRP'" link "Glossary" 0} definition.) The reason for this is explained later in this document. @endnode @node "TitleRevisionAvailability" "SHARECOMPILATION - Title, Revision, Availability." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "HowToRead" @prev "Copyright" @{b}@{u}Title, Revision, Availability.@{ub}@{uu} Title: The concept of a 'sharecompilation of Software' - DRAFT Revision: $VER: sharecompilation_definition 0.8 6.03.95 This is still a draft document. I'm sorry that there are still places to be filled and that some sections need to be updated. All the text will be reorganized and reformatted as necessary. BUT the legal content should be almost ready and will not be changed in a way that would not be compatible with the thoughts, concepts etc. that are presented in this revision. The English language will be improved. This text is currently available in the following languages and forms (certified by the author): English (AmigaGuide Hypertext format) English (plain text, derived from the Guide) If you want to translate it into other languages, then please contact the author. Other forms planned by the author: German (plain text), and German hypertext versions, but I had to recognize, that keeping such a big document synchronized in two different languages takes too much time for me at the moment. That may change in the future. I promise to bring this document to Rev. 1.0. Whether I will be able to continue to develop it and whether there is interest in it etc. will be published in Rev 1.0. But I will definitely try to get someone who takes care of this if I should not be able to do it. All future revisions and any new information will be available by anonymous ftp: ftp walhalla.ira.uka.de (129.13.59.52) get /sharecompilation/info.txt This info.txt will be very short and will give you up to date information on all available files. My personal address is: Martin Kopp Frankenstr.34 D-68259 Mannheim Germany An email address for comments to the sharecompilation is: martin.kopp@ira.uka.de BUT: I am very busy at the moment and I can not promise to answer your letters or email (I do not have direct access to this account). But every constructive comment will be taken into account. The single source for the actual version of this document is the ftp address mentioned above. I try to get someone to set up everything that is necessary to make the texts also available through some kind of 'automatic email'. See the info.txt on ftp for further information. @endnode @node "HowToRead" "SHARECOMPILATION - How to read this document." @toc "TableOfContents" @{b}@{u}How to read this document.@{ub}@{uu} This is a fairly large document and not all the information provided is important to every reader. So here is something like a guided tour for different readers: Tour 1: For the @{"'user'" link "Glossary" 0}. The interested 'user' of Freeware, Shareware and other software under similar legal status should read at least the reasonable "@{"Short introduction: sharecompilation software?" link "ShortIntroduction" 0}" and "@{"What advantages sharecompilation?" link "Advantages" 0}". This should give a reasonable overview of this concept. You, the end 'user', are essential to the success of this concept because only if you buy the sharecompilations (on CD-ROM or other storage medium) it is possible to convince all the people involved in using it. And you will get a lot advantages of it. So do not hesitate: these parts of this document are short. You might also be interested in the section "@{"Where from?" link "WhereDoesItComeFrom" 0}" and you are invited to read all the rest! Tour 2: The extensions for the shareware @{"'author'" link "Glossary" 0}. The 'author' of Freeware, Shareware and other software under similar legal status should start reading the same sections as the end 'user'. You will be introduced to the concept and the benefits that you can get (of which the simplified legal situation, the well defined low-profit situation and the broad distribution are the most prominent ones). If you are interested then read on. You can skip the "@{"Where from?" link "WhereDoesItComeFrom" 0}" section if you are more interested in facts than gossip. Of special interest are the four sections "@{"The analysis situation." link "Analysis" 0}" - describing the problem to solve, "@{"The legal definitions sharecompilation." link "LegalDefinitions" 0}" - the essentials, "@{"The details: single 'authors' side." link "DetailsAuthor" 0}" - more focused stuff, and the "@{"Example disclaimers etc." link "ExamplesGeneral" 0}". Tour 3: The big tour for compilation @{"'assemblers'" link "Glossary" 0}. The 'assembler' of compilations of Freeware, Shareware and other software under similar legal status should read the whole text to get all the information and to better understand all the aspects that are relevant for the different people that are involved. He might skip the "@{"Where from?" link "WhereDoesItComeFrom" 0}" section but should take special notice of the following important sections: "@{"The legal definitions sharecompilation." link "LegalDefinitions" 0}", "@{"The details: 'assemblers' side." link "DetailsAssembler" 0}" and "@{"Example disclaimers etc." link "ExamplesGeneral" 0}". Tour 4: The special route for the @{"'producers'" link "Glossary" 0} and @{"'distributors'" link "Glossary" 0}. Anyone who might be interested in the production or distribution of a sharecompilation (which should be really interesting since you can get a compilation of distributable software nearly for free and under well defined conditions) should read the sections "@{"Short introduction: Sharecompilation Software?" link "ShortIntroduction" 0}", "@{"What advantages sharecompilation?" link "Advantages" 0}", "@{"The legal definitions sharecompilation." link "LegalDefinitions" 0}", "@{"The details: 'producers' side." link "DetailsProducer" 0}", "@{"The details: 'distributors' side." link "DetailsDistributor" 0}" and "@{"Example disclaimers etc" link "ExamplesGeneral" 0}.". Anything else would be helpful to get the whole picture. @endnode @node "TableOfContents" "SHARECOMPILATION - Table of Contents." @next "ShortIntroduction" @prev "HowToRead" @{b}@{u}Table of Contents.@{ub}@{uu} @{" Copyright. " link "Copyright" 0} @{" Title, Revision, Availability. " link "TitleRevisionAvailability" 0} Table of Contents. @{" document. " link "HowToRead" 0} @{" Short introduction: sharecompilation software? " link "ShortIntroduction" 0} @{" advantages sharecompilation? " link "Advantages" 0} @{" Where from? " link "WhereDoesItComeFrom" 0} @{" analysis situation. " link "Analysis" 0} @{" legal definitions sharecompilation. " link "LegalDefinitions" 0} @{" details: single 'authors' side. " link "DetailsAuthor" 0} @{" details: 'assemblers' side. " link "DetailsAssembler" 0} @{" details: 'producers' side. " link "DetailsProducer" 0} @{" details: 'distributors' side. " link "DetailsDistributor" 0} @{" Example disclaimers " link "ExamplesGeneral" 0} @{" Example disclaimer Share-/Free-/XXXware 'author'. " link "ExampleDisclaimerAuthor" 0} @{" Example disclaimer Sharecompilation 'assembler'. " link "ExampleDisclaimerAssembler" 0} @{" Example sharecompilation treaty 'assembler' 'producer'. " link "ExampleTreaty" 0} @{" Example license included compilation. " link "ExampleLicense" 0} @{" Example configurations. " link "ExampleConfigurations" 0} @{" Glossary. " link "Glossary." 0} @{" What's revision? " link "WhatsNew" 0} @{" Additional thoughts. " link "AdditionalThoughts" 0} @endnode @node "ShortIntroduction" "SHARECOMPILATION - Short introduction." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "Advantages" @prev "TableOfContents" @{b}@{u}Short introduction: What is a "Sharecompilation" of Software?@{ub}@{uu} A sharecompilation ('share' "... 2 a: to partake of, use, experience, occupy, or enjoy with others ..." Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition) of Software - short sharecompilation - is a concept for the assembling, the production and the distribution of reasonable large arrangements of all kinds of shareware, freeware, public domain and similar software. This concept can be used for any such arrangements of data, it is platform independent, it is applicable for different volumes and different storage media. Possible candidates are compilations of shareware/freeware etc., compilations of public available data (telephone books, train/flight timetables), promotional data collections, company specific publications, etc. The main goal is to provide a concept that is fair for all the people involved. This includes the following groups, for which I want to define some names (that will be used frequently in the context of the sharecompilation definition): the 'authors' of the individual software packages the 'assemblers' of the compilation the 'producers' of the distributed storage medium the 'distributors' that sell the product to the 'users' the 'users' that want to get hold of the software The process should be as non-commercial as possible because all the software on such compilations is per definition non-commercial (shareware is non-commercial in the sense that you can decide for yourself whether to pay the fee or not AFTER you inspected the product and in accordance to the prospected usage of the program). This will also help to solve many of the problems with disclaimers, that restrict the distribution to be non-commercial or limit the amount that can be asked for the medium. To reach these goals I have developed the following main principals: - The 'assembler' (the one who puts all the data together) should work on a non-commercial basis, in the spirit of either Freeware or Shareware. So he (or she) can get the recognition for the hard labor that the assembling of a large compilation demands. He may also request a small donation or fee if the 'users' are satisfied with the result - just as the programmers do for their hard work. - The 'assembler' should be separate from the 'producer' (the one who actually invests in the production of the CD or whatever storage medium is distributed). - The 'distributor' may be the same as the 'producer', but this is not necessary. - After a well defined period of exclusive production (to protect the interests of the first 'investor') other 'producers' may join. This should result in some kind of competition to keep the 'producers' from raising too much profit. - A fixed maximum suggested retail price (defined to be less than US $13 or DM 20 for a single distributed medium, see the @{"'The legal definitions sharecompilation.'" link "LegalDefinitions" 0} section) should be defined by the 'assembler' and has to be accepted by the 'producers'. This should prevent the 'distributors' to raise their stakes. This document defines necessary and optional parts of the sharecompilation concept and I propose these definitions as a new standard - the sharecompilation standard. The full details (and there are plenty of them) of the concept are revealed later in this document. Since there might be other people (hopefully not) defining similar concepts it is necessary to reference a sharecompilation of the kind that is described throughout this document in the following way: "Sharecompilation Rev. X.X as defined by Martin Kopp, Mannheim, Germany" (See the @{"'What's revision'" link "WhatsNew" 0} section for information on the old identification phrase, that was introduced in Rev. 0.7 and included a @{"'MSRP'" link "Glossary" 0} definition.) Such a reference is inevitable not only to prevent confusion but because this document can thereby be used in legal texts such as disclaimers, treaties, etc. like for instance the GNU public license. @endnode @node "Advantages" "SHARECOMPILATION - Advantages." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "WhereDoesItComeFrom" @prev "ShortIntroduction" @{b}@{u}What are the advantages of a sharecompilation?@{ub} @{uu} The main advantage is a low price of the distributed compilation which in turn results in: - broader distribution of the compilation because most people prefer cheaper things and some people just do not have the money for the expensive ones. - more happiness among the Freeware 'authors' of programs or data on the compilation because they can reach more people. - more happiness among the Shareware (Giftware etc.) 'authors' of programs (or data) that are part of the distribution because they will not only reach more people, but these people will be more inclined to pay the fee (the gift etc.) that was requested, due to the lower price they had to pay for the data in the first place. - more happiness among the 'assemblers' of such compilations because software that is defined to be distributable on sharecompilations as defined by this document makes it easier for them to verify the restrictions that result out of the copyright and the disclaimer. - more happiness for the 'producers' and 'distributors' (at least in a long term evaluation) because cheaper means higher volume, higher volume means more CD-ROM drives, more CD-ROM drives mean higher volume ... And the fact that they get the compilation nearly free should be realistically seen as giving biscuits to the children. And there is a defined base of discussion when they speak with potential 'assemblers'. - more happiness among the 'users' for there will be more freely distributable software because some 'authors' stopped working on projects or stopped publishing them when they realized that there are too many people making too many profit of their work. Now these 'authors' can include the right to distribute their software as part of a sharecompilation (a defined by this document - with or without a maximum suggested retail price for the medium) very easy in their disclaimers. So everybody should be more happy with the concept of a sharecompilation! Hey! Let us be more realistic! There are individuals that will not be happy: - 'assemblers' of compilations who want to make a high profit out of the work of others (The labor that has to be invested into the assembling of the compilation is approximately equal to the labor that has to be invested into one or two of the thousands of programs which make up the compilation. So why should this single person (or group) get rich while all the others get nothing?) - 'producers' and 'distributors' with the same intention! But who cares - really? If you like this concept there is still one problem: There has to be a way of knowing whether a product obeys these rules or not. So I created the name sharecompilation to describe this concept and any user can verify very easy whether the product is a sharecompilation of this sort by looking for a reference on the package like: "Sharecompilation Rev. 0.8 as defined by Martin Kopp, Mannheim, Germany" (See the @{"'What's revision'" link "WhatsNew" 0} section for information on the old identification phrase, that was introduced in Rev. 0.7 and included a @{"'MSRP'" link "Glossary" 0} definition.) where the Rev. X.X stands for the revision number of this document. This document and all new revisions will be published on various sources like the Internet. The first official sharecompilation was the CD "Meeting Pearls Volume 1" that was managed by Angela Schmidt, Neu-Ulm, Germany with a @{"MSRP/MEVP" link "Glossary" 0} US $ 13 / DM 19.80. That's it so far, I hope you like it. Any constructive comments may be send to the author. (I've got an email account for this baby, see the section "@{"Title, Revision, Availability." link "TitleRevisionAvailability" 0}" at the beginning of this document for details. @endnode @node "WhereDoesItComeFrom" "SHARECOMPILATION - Where does it come from?" @toc "TableOfContents" @next "Analysis" @prev "Advantages" @{b}@{u}Where does it come from?@{ub}@{uu} This concept emerged out of my frustration that there were compilations of so called freely distributable software that had some strange characteristics. These compilations - CD-ROMs to be more concrete - had a compilation copyright on them so that you could not legally copy them to your hard disk or to a streamer tape (in some cases even the copying of parts of the compilation was forbidden). The reason was that the 'producers' did not want that anybody could copy the content of the CD because they would loose a whole lot of money in this case. Why could they loose money on disks that were 99,99% full with material that they did not had the copyright of? (Strange, but this will be explained later in this document). These CD-ROMs had a price tag ranging from 50 DM to more than 150 DM, which I found to be a further reason of frustration. Many discussions - not only on the Internet - were held on this topic. And there was the next great reason to be frustrated: Some people even supported the idea that the compilation copyright of the 'producer'/'distributor' had to be obeyed at all costs while the copyright and the disclaimers of the individual software pieces that - in many cases - prohibited the commercial distribution was named an insult to the idea of freely distributable software. Really strange - isn't it? Without these 'authors' there would be nothing to be distributed at all! STOP! No more flames! Let us be more constructive! Let us analyze the facts. @endnode @node "Analysis" "SHARECOMPILATION - Analysis of the situation." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "LegalDefinitions" @prev "WhereDoesItComeFrom" @{b}@{u}The analysis of the situation.@{ub}@{uu} I tried to sort out the individual facts that made up this mess and tried to be fair to all of the people involved. In a discussion (some would call it a monologue) at a meeting in Karlsruhe I gathered information from different fractions, combined it with my own knowledge of the subject, tried to structure all of it and found the following things to be important: - To assemble a compilation of software the size of a complete CD-ROM is hard labor if the resulting product should uphold a high quality standard. - Therefore it is necessary to provide the people that do this job with some kind of compensation (or they will not carry on with their work). - High quality standard means to meet as much criteria as possible from the following (unequivocal incomplete) list. All material should be - free of viruses or equal nasties. - only included if the inclusion does not violate the respective copyright. - the most recent version of the software. - ready to run from the CD-ROM. - organized in a way that allows easy access. - accompanied by a description. - complete with all files. - easy to install on your hard disk. (Even if it is possible to use it from the CD-ROM.) - The production of a reasonable quantity of CD-ROMs and the distribution of them costs money that someone has to invest in a project that might fail. - Therefore it is necessary to give these people a kind of compensation (or they will not continue to invest their money in such projects). - For many different reasons most of the people who do a good job in assembling these compilations do not have enough money to risk a full production run. - For many different reasons most of the people, who have the money for a full blown production run, do not have the knowledge, the resources, the time or the personnel to assemble a high quality software compilation. - Only a full blown production run (of about 1000 to 5000 pieces or more) results in a low price for the single CD-ROM (mainly because the process that is called "mastering" costs a lot of money and has to be done whether you produce 100 or 10000 CDs). This is more or less also true for any other possible storage medium. - You need a well developed distribution network to sell the CDs (or whatever you distribute) as fast as possible to get back the money that you invested. - Only a low price combined with a high quality compilation will result in a strong demand for the product so that great quantity of disks can be sold in a short time. - The 'authors' of the individual software pieces (whether shareware, freeware, public domain or similar software) want a fast and wide spread distribution of their respective work. - Most of these 'authors' do not want that the medium on which the software is distributed costs too much There are some that do not want anybody to make profit of their hard labor, some who think that a high price may prevent many people to get their hands on their software, some who fear that 'users' may not pay their shareware fee considering they already paid much for the storage medium and some others that do not like it for whatever reason they may have. - Most 'users' do not want that the medium on which the compilation is distributed costs too much. There are some (quite a lot) who like to have money and therefore do have objections to give it away whereas some others want to buy more than one compilation but do not have enough money and so on and so on ... - Some 'authors' do not want their work to be distributed if there are too many people making profit of it and stop publishing their programs if their disclaimers are not followed. - Some 'users' regret the fact that some 'authors' stop to write or publish good software. - Great quantities of CD-ROM disks can only be sold if there are many CD-ROM drives to use them. - Great quantities of CD-ROM drives can only be sold if they are cheap enough and if there is a large selection of cheap software titles. As a conclusion everybody (or at least most of the people) would be happy to have high quality software compilations at a low price with a reasonable compensation for all the people that work hard or invest money, while the copyright of all the individual 'authors' should be obeyed to keep them writing new software for the next compilation. OK - that's it! Simple! A solution came to mind and I presented it to some of the people at the meeting in Karlsruhe. Most of them were quite exited (in a positive way). Here it is: @{"The concept sharecompilation:" link "Advantages" 0} @endnode @node "LegalDefinitions" "SHARECOMPILATION - Legal definitions." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "DetailsAuthor" @prev "Analysis" @{b}@{u}The legal definitions of a sharecompilation.@{ub}@{uu} This and the following sections "The details..." cover the essential definitions that have to be followed if you want to reference your work to the sharecompilation concept defined by this document. All the constraints, all limits and all definitions have to be obeyed. There is still enough room in form of optional parts that can be customized. But even if you break one rule only, you cannot reference your work to be related to: "Sharecompilation Rev. X.X as defined by Martin Kopp, Mannheim, Germany". This is essential because all the people involved rely on and trust in these definitions and part of them even use them in the legal sections of their work. (See also the @{"'What's revision'" link "WhatsNew" 0} section, for more information regarding the old form of this identification phrase, defined in Rev. 0.7, which included a @{"'MSRP'" link "Glossary" 0}.) --- So PLEASE be precise! --- (Part of this information was already presented earlier in the document as a general introduction and motivation but in this context it is presented as definitions!) The concept is build around several main definitions that apply to all the people involved (Special details for each group are placed in the following sections): - The 'assembler' of the compilation is not the 'producer' of it. (Exception: The person that is both 'assembler' and 'producer' has to separately follow all the respective rules!) - Anyone who is willing to produce the compilation under the restrictions of the 'assembler' has to get the chance to do it. But the 'assembler' can choose which one gets the first license (that gets a special treatment - see below). - Restrictions can be, for example, the 'suggested retail price' that has to be clearly visible on the cover, the form of the distribution, the quantity etc. Restrictions are not allowed regarding the domain of the distribution (this could otherwise lead to a kind of monopoly), the time span in which the product may be sold (in contrast to the production time span which might be restricted) or any personal objections against the 'producer'. No lower limit can be defined for the retail price. If someone wants to produce it at a lower price, he or she can do it! - For all people involved there is an upper limit for the suggested retail price, that has to be included on the cover of the product, of US $ 13 (DM 20) for a single distribution media (CD-ROM, Streamer tape or equivalent - no Floppy Disks allowed!). If the sharecompilation consists of more than one of these pieces that are distributed as a kind of 'set', then the overall 'suggested retail price' for the 'set' may be US $ 7 (DM 10) higher for each additional piece. Any lower price is naturally welcome and it is the responsibility of the 'assembler' to uphold the principle of low profit margins and economic production/ distribution. From revision 0.8 on, this has to be true for any production volume, distribution form, media etc. (This has proven to be reasonable with the production of the first sharecompilation 'Meeting Pearls Volume I' managed by Angela Schmidt - see also the section @{"'Additional thoughts" link "AdditionalThoughts" 0}'). - All restrictions have to be equal for all producers! Exceptions are: the 'first producer protection period' term and the 'cover mounted distribution', presented below, as well as the increasing of the production quantities and changes of the 'suggested retail price', that has to be readable on the cover, due to general changes of the production costs (higher volumes result in a lower price; after a given period the production costs might generally be lower, which should be reflected by the lowering of the retail price). - If a 'producer' is a publisher who wants to mount the distributed media onto the cover of a magazine or news paper, the following exception rules may be applied, but only for a period of time after the 'first producer protection period': - it is declared to be legal, that the 'assembler' offers him the 'exclusive' distribution right for this form of distribution in a certain domain and for a given time period. (Other distribution channels in the same domain or elsewhere are not touched by this 'exclusive right' and may exist at the same time!) - the 'retail price' of the complete product, including the sharecompilation media, has to be lower than or equal to US $13 (DM 20). The 'first producer' may voluntary give a written declaration of consent to make such a production possible during his 'exclusive production period'. These exception were necessary since such a 'cover mounted' distribution has to be planed a long time in advance and it does not make sense to have two or more magazines with the same disk on it, neither for the publishers nor for the readers. - The first 'producer' of a new compilation may get a small period of exclusive production to compensate for the risk that is involved in it (should not be more than 3 months). - The 'producers' and the 'distributors' get their compensation from selling the product. - Every 'producer' has to pay a fee once to get the compilation and the license to produce it directly from the 'assembler'. This fee is only meant to prevent the 'assembler' to be overrun by people who want to get the compilation and do not intend to produce it. The fee should be small (less than US $ 60 or DM 100) and preferable be paid in the form of a small quantity (10 to 30 pieces) of the product (CD-ROM, tape or whatever storage medium is used for the distribution). - Every 'producer' has to produce a new ISO-Image (or whatever 'mastering' process is needed for the chosen storage medium) for his production. (This should be clear because the license file has to be updated - see below) - The compensation of the 'assembler' results out of the fee mentioned above and anything that he asks the 'users' of the compilation for and that these 'users' are willing to give to him. There should not be any kind of pressure on the 'users' to do so (besides the usual PLEASE). He can only ask for compensation relating to the assembling of the compilation - not for the content of it! - There has to be a reference to this document in the defined standard form (see comments in the 'Details...' sections). - There can be no restrictions on the private use of the compilation and the copying of parts or the whole compilation for private use besides the restrictions of the individual copyrighted software that is part of the compilation. - A 'license' text has to be included as part of the compilation with the addresses of all the actual legitimated producers, the address of the assembler and his or her explicit statement that these people may produce the compilation (See the @{"examples" link "ExampleLicense" 0} at the end of the document!) @endnode @node "DetailsAuthor" "SHARECOMPILATION - 'Authors' side." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "DetailsAssembler" @prev "LegalDefinitions" @{b}@{u}The details: The single 'authors' side.@{ub}@{uu} Any 'author' of a Freeware, Shareware or similar product (program or data) who agrees to these definitions and who wants to take advantage of this new distribution scheme can add the following lines to his or her disclaimer: "This program may be distributed as part of a sharecompilation Rev.X.X as defined by Martin Kopp, Mannheim, Germany. The author agrees to the legal terms that are defined by this document." (See the @{"'What's revision'" link "WhatsNew" 0} section for information on the old identification phrase, that was introduced in Rev. 0.7 and included a @{"'MSRP'" link "Glossary" 0} definition.) The old identification phrase is still compatible with Rev. 0.8 and higher, since the assembler has to verify the MSRP that you defined for Rev. 0.7 against the 'suggested retail price' that has to be clearly visible on the cover. For details about the amounts that can be demanded for the sharecompilation in which your work might be included see the @{"'The legal definitions sharecompilation.'" link "LegalDefinitions" 0} section. If you have reason to suspect any sharecompilation that claims to follow these definitions to contravene against a rule - especially regarding the 'low profit' and 'economic production' ideas - then please contact the 'assembler', since I am not able to verify the individual contracts. Naturally you have to claim legally a copyright on the data/program because without that you are not entitled to make any restrictions. There may be other terms in your disclaimer, as long as none of them negates any of the definitions. There are example disclaimers at the end of this document. Your benefit of including this line is that a potentially interested 'assembler' of such a compilation can easily verify your consent. This makes it more likely that your program is included but gives you the security of knowing what all these people will do with your work. @endnode @node "DetailsAssembler" "SHARECOMPILATION - 'Assemblers' details." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "DetailsProducer" @prev "DetailsAuthor" @{b}@{u}The details: The 'assemblers' side.@{ub}@{uu} Any 'assembler' of a sharecompilation that follows the definitions of a sharecompilation as presented in this document has to include the following lines in his disclaimer. "This compilation adheres to the definitions of a sharecompilation Rev. X.X as defined by Martin Kopp, Mannheim, Germany". (See the @{"'What's revision'" link "WhatsNew" 0} section for information on the old identification phrase, that was introduced in Rev. 0.7 and included a @{"'MSRP'" link "Glossary" 0} definition.) Of course you have to claim a compilation copyright on your collection of data. There are @{"example disclaimers" link "ExamplesGeneral" 0} at the end of this document. Whether this compilation copyright is legal or not should not be of your concern. If it is not, then every CD-ROM or other large collection of data has no such copyright and everyone can copy it (whether it is a disk from Fred Fish or a part of the Internet.) All the @{"general definitions" link "LegalDefinitions" 0} have to be obeyed! You will have to have a treaty with every single 'producer'. There is an example treaty at the end of this document. Your benefit of including this line is that a potentially interested 'producer' knows exactly what this is all about. Furthermore you can include all the program or data that is released for the inclusion in sharecompilations (as long as the 'suggested retail price', htat has to be clearly visible on the cover of the product, is less or equal to the possibly given @{"MSRP" link "Glossary" 0}, which was defined in Rev. 0.7 and still has to be obeyed). And you can easily verify the authors consent. If you plan to produce a sharecompilation you might be interested in contacting: Stefan Ossowski Schatztruhe Gesellschaft f r Software mbH Veronikastra D-45131 Essen Germany He is the producer of the first official sharecompilation named "Meeting Pearls Volume 1" Copyright by Angela Schmidt, Neu-Ulm, Germany, and accepted the conditions with @{"MSRP" link "Glossary" 0} US $12 (DM 19,80) and these two, Stefan Ossowski and Angela Schmidt, are therefore proof that there is interest in this concept. He also declared in principle his willingness and interest to produce other CD-ROMs under the definitions of a sharecompilation as described in this document. BUT, there is no guarantee whether he will produce it and, hopefully, there are other producers! (see also @{"'Additional thoughts'" link "AdditionalThoughts" 0}) IMPORTANT: Only assemble a compilation after you made sure that there is a 'producer' interested. (There is no guarantee that someone will produce it if no one sees a market for it - no matter how good it might be!) If I get notice of other proven producers, I will try to present them in future revisions of this document. Actually you can try to approach any of the bigger producers of CD-ROMs. A recent questioning of several German producers/distributors about their interest in the possible production of the 'Meeting pearls Volume 2' - under the restrictions of the sharecompilation concept - resulted in a general high acceptance. The fact that in the end Stefan Ossowski Schatztruhe Gesellschaft f r Software mbH was again selected, was due to his experience with the first CD and the extremely good distribution channels he can offer etc. Nevertheless - the other producers would have accepted the conditions, at least for a high quality product like the 'Meeting Pearls'. It is possible that there is a group of assemblers. In this case there has to be one legal representative or all the names have to be included at every instance where the 'assembler' has to be mentioned (Copyright, License etc.). The 'assembler' has to ensure that the best efforts are used to check the whole compilation to be free of viruses, that every single copyright text has been paid attention to and that the software is installed completely (and directly usable, if this is appropriate). Be especially careful with pictures (No pictures of single persons without their explicit agreement) and sound and music files (almost all of them have copyright on them and cannot be included!) A note has to be included about shareware programs and shareware fees in the documentation. The 'assembler' provides the compilation on a transfer medium on which he and the 'producer' agreed on (see example treaty at the end of this document). The compilation has to be ready for production in a form that both agreed on. It is advisable that in the case, that a voluntary donation is requested from the 'users', a kind of transfer form to an account is included with each CD. The 'producer' has to accept this on demand of the 'assembler'. The 'producer' has to cover all the needed expenses of the 'assembler' (like telephone, medium, postage, etc.) The 'assembler' has to provide the 'producer' with reasonable information about his expenses and should announce any higher amounts to the 'producer'. The 'assembler' commits himself to provide a given amount of data of high quality (as defined in this document in the former section @{"'The analysis situation.'" link "Analysis" 0}). Normally the storage medium should be nearly full (this might not be true if a sharecompilation was planned for a CD-ROM and gets distributed on DAT-Tape, for example). @endnode @node "DetailsProducer" "SHARECOMPILATION - 'Producers' details." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "DetailsDistributor" @prev "DetailsAssembler" @{b}@{u}The details: The 'producers' side.@{ub}@{uu} Any 'producer' of a sharecompilation that follows the definitions of a sharecompilation as presented in this document has to include the following lines in his documentation and clearly visible on the package: "This compilation adheres to the definitions of a sharecompilation Rev. X.X as defined by Martin Kopp, Mannheim, Germany". (See the @{"'What's revision'" link "WhatsNew" 0} section for information on the old identification phrase, that was introduced in Rev. 0.7 and included a @{"'MSRP'" link "Glossary" 0} definition.) The 'producer' has to ensure that a notice that explains the shareware concept and the consequences thereof is clearly visible on the package. The suggested retail price, on which the 'assembler' and 'producer' agreed in their treaty, has to be clearly visible on the package. It is suggested to print the price in multiple currencies if you expect a multi-national distribution. For foreign countries the price mentioned might be as high as an US $ 13 equivalent even if the national price is lower because of the additional costs that result from higher shipping rates (from 'producer' to the 'distributor') and/or tax rates etc. The 'producer' gets his authorization through the content of a License file that is part of the compilation. The 'producer' has to ensure that the 'user' can estimate how much data is included in the compilation. This information has to be clearly visible on the package. The 'assembler' provides the compilation on a transfer medium on which he and the 'producer' agreed on (see example treaty at the end of this document). The compilation has to be ready for production in a form that both agreed on. The 'producer' has no right to alter any part of the content of the compilation without approval by the 'assembler'. The 'producer' is responsible for the generating of an ISO-Image (or any other 'mastering' process that is needed). Since it is advisable that in the case, that a voluntary donation is requested from the 'users', a kind of transfer form to an account is included with each CD, the 'producer' has to accept this on demand of the 'assembler'. The 'producer' has to cover all the needed expenses of the 'assembler' (like telephone, medium, postage etc.). The 'assembler' has to provide the 'producer' with reasonable information about his expenses and should announce any higher amounts to the 'producer'. The 'producer' has to provide the 'assembler' with reasonable information to verify, that the production is economic and follows the principle of low profit margins. (For example it can not be viewed as an economic production, if the producer claims production costs that only allow a suggested retail price of US $ 13 (DM 20) for a production run of 100000 CD-ROMs.) If I get notice of proven 'producers', I will try to present them in future revisions of this document. (See also the section @{"'The details: 'assemblers' side.'" link "DetailsAssembler" 0} for more information on other 'producers') The benefit for the 'producer' is obvious: He can get the complete compilation ready for production under precisely defined legal conditions nearly for free. See also the section @{"'Additional thoughts'" link "AdditionalThoughts" 0} for first experiences with this concept. @endnode @node "DetailsDistributor" "SHARECOMPILATION - 'Distributors' details." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "ExamplesGeneral" @prev "DetailsProducer" @{b}@{u}The details: The 'distributors' side.@{ub}@{uu} The benefit of the 'distributor' is, that his customer knows what he gets and that the name sharecompilation will be seen as a sign of quality for a fair price. In revision 0.7 I still added '(hopefully)'. But the first sharecompilation produced 'Meeting pearls Volume 1' has been such a great success (which is naturally mainly because the contents was really first choice and the presentation was superb) that I can now be confident to say that the concept, paired with a high quality compilation, is a proven success. So if you are interested, then pass the message! (See also the section @{"'Additional thoughts" link "AdditionalThoughts" 0}' for more details.) @endnode @node "ExamplesGeneral" "SHARECOMPILATION - Example documents." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "ExampleDisclaimerAuthor" @prev "DetailsDistributor" @{b}@{u}Example Documents.@{ub}@{uu} The following documents may be used as raw concepts for various sharecompilation related legal matters. They have proven to be useful with the first sharecompilation "Meeting Pearls Volume 1" by Angela Schmidt and affiliated people. @{" Example disclaimer Share-/Free-/XXXware 'author'. " link "ExampleDisclaimerAuthor" 0} @{" Example disclaimer Sharecompilation 'assembler'. " link "ExampleDisclaimerAssembler" 0} @{" Example sharecompilation treaty 'assembler' 'producer'. " link "ExampleTreaty" 0} @{" Example license included compilation. " link "ExampleLicense" 0} @endnode @node "ExampleDisclaimerAuthor" "SHARECOMPILATION - Example disclaimer 'Author'." @toc "ExamplesGeneral" @next "ExampleDisclaimerAssembler" @prev "ExamplesGeneral" @{b}@{u} Example disclaimer for the Sharecompilation 'assembler'@{ub}@{uu}. You have to replace the [] parts in the following text. -------------------------------CUT HERE--------------------------- This software compilation is Copyright [year] by [assembler.name], [assembler.city], [assembler.country] - All Rights Reserved. This compilation adheres to the definitions of a sharecompilation Rev. X.X as defined by Martin Kopp, Mannheim, Germany. The copyright of the individual programs or data belongs to the respective authors. Under the following conditions it is legal to copy the compilation itself: Private: As long as everything happens for free and non-commercial (see below), the compilation can be copied as whole or only parts of it as often as you want. This means that you can make private copies on DAT-tape, other streamers, hard disks, piles of disks etc.. Preferable there should be a notice about the source or - in the case of near complete copies - all the original ReadMe files should be enclosed. The copyright of the individual programs or data and all their restrictions have to be heeded absolutely. This includes shareware payments, as they are requested. The purchase or the legal acquisition of this compilation does not include the compensation of the individual share fees. Commercial: This compilation may be reproduced as whole or only parts of it only under the following conditions: If only single programs or data will be redistributed and the copyright of every single respective author is followed in every single case! Furthermore every single software package must include a note about the source in the form "These files were taken from the [sharecompilation.name], Copyright [year] by [assembler.name], [assembler.city], [assembler.country].". or If the whole compilation has been received directly from the address mentioned below and all the respective requirements were adhered to. As a proof of the legitimacy a file named "License" exists including the names of all actual legitimated producers plus a declaration of consent and the address of [assembler.name] where anybody with a reasonable suspicion can verify this information. If anyone thinks that there is a market for this CD, for example in the back of Mongolia, please contact the same address. In general: Neither [assembler.name] nor the legal producer of the original unchanged [sharecompilation.name] [CD, DAT, etc.] that was received from [assembler.name] take any warranty or responsibility for any kind of damage that may result through the usage of this compilation. Best efforts were used to check the whole compilation to be free of viruses, that every single copyright text has been paid attention to and that the software was installed completely [and directly usable]. In the case that - despite this care - any of the above mentioned points has not been reached it is not possible to take any responsibility. Should there be a case in which the copyright was unintentionally violated, the victim should please get in contact with the address mentioned below, so that for further distributions the damage can be limited as much as possible. Thank you. In the case that one or more terms of this disclaimer might not be legal in one or more countries, then these terms are defined to be not valid for these countries, but the remaining terms stay intact and similar or equivalent legal terms to the ones that are void should be accepted. The file [ReadMeFirst] should be read before usage of this CD. Name and address of the representative: [assembler.name] [assembler.address] -------------------------------CUT HERE--------------------------- @endnode @node "ExampleDisclaimerAssembler" "SHARECOMPILATION - Example disclaimer 'Assembler'." @toc "ExamplesGeneral" @next "ExampleTreaty" @prev "ExampleDisclaimerAuthor" @{b}@{u}Example disclaimer for the Sharecompilation 'assembler'.@{ub}@{uu} You have to replace the [] parts in the following text. -------------------------------CUT HERE--------------------------- This software compilation is Copyright [year] by [assembler.name], [assembler.city], [assembler.country] - All Rights Reserved. This compilation adheres to the definitions of a sharecompilation Rev. X.X as defined by Martin Kopp, Mannheim, Germany. The copyright of the individual programs or data belongs to the respective authors. Under the following conditions it is legal to copy the compilation itself: Private: As long as everything happens for free and non-commercial (see below), the compilation can be copied as whole or only parts of it as often as you want. This means that you can make private copies on DAT-tape, other streamers, hard disks, piles of disks etc.. Preferable there should be a notice about the source or - in the case of near complete copies - all the original ReadMe files should be enclosed. The copyright of the individual programs or data and all their restrictions have to be heeded absolutely. This includes shareware payments, as they are requested. The purchase or the legal acquisition of this compilation does not include the compensation of the individual share fees. Commercial: This compilation may be reproduced as whole or only parts of it only under the following conditions: If only single programs or data will be redistributed and the copyright of every single respective author is followed in every single case! Furthermore every single software package must include a note about the source in the form "These files were taken from the [sharecompilation.name], Copyright [year] by [assembler.name], [assembler.city], [assembler.country].". or If the whole compilation has been received directly from the address mentioned below and all the respective requirements were adhered to. As a proof of the legitimacy a file named "License" exists including the names of all actual legitimated producers plus a declaration of consent and the address of [assembler.name] where anybody with a reasonable suspicion can verify this information. If anyone thinks that there is a market for this CD, for example in the back of Mongolia, please contact the same address. In general: Neither [assembler.name] nor the legal producer of the original unchanged [sharecompilation.name] [CD, DAT, etc.] that was received from [assembler.name] take any warranty or responsibility for any kind of damage that may result through the usage of this compilation. Best efforts were used to check the whole compilation to be free of viruses, that every single copyright text has been paid attention to and that the software was installed completely [and directly usable]. In the case that - despite this care - any of the above mentioned points has not been reached it is not possible to take any responsibility. Should there be a case in which the copyright was unintentionally violated, the victim should please get in contact with the address mentioned below, so that for further distributions the damage can be limited as much as possible. Thank you. In the case that one or more terms of this disclaimer might not be legal in one or more countries, then these terms are defined to be not valid for these countries, but the remaining terms stay intact and similar or equivalent legal terms to the ones that are void should be accepted. The file [ReadMeFirst] should be read before usage of this CD. Name and address of the representative: [assembler.name] [assembler.address] -------------------------------CUT HERE--------------------------- @endnode @node "ExampleTreaty" "SHARECOMPILATION - Example treaty 'Assembler'<->'Producer'." @toc "ExamplesGeneral" @next "ExampleLicense" @prev "ExampleDisclaimerAssembler" @{b}@{u}Example treaty between 'assembler' and 'producer' of the@{ub}@{uu} @{b}@{u}sharecompilation.@{ub}@{uu} *** Sorry not yet written in this draft version of this document. Will be added as soon as possible! @endnode @node "ExampleLicense" "SHARECOMPILATION - Example license." @toc "ExamplesGeneral" @next "ExampleConfigurations" @prev "ExampleTreaty" @{b}@{u}Example license file to be included in the compilation.@{ub}@{uu} You have to replace the [] parts in the following text. -------------------------------CUT HERE--------------------------- [assembler.city], [assembler.country], [date] Licence ======= This compilation adheres to the definitions of a sharecompilation Rev. X.X as defined by Martin Kopp, Mannheim, Germany. Herewith I issue the licence to produce the [sharecompilation.name] in arbitrary quantities - as long as a good readable "recommended retail price" of less than or equal to [the defined suggested retail price] (or an equal amount in another currency) is placed on the packaging - to [producer.name] [producer.address] Furthermore I issue a licence to anyone to copy the compilation non-commercially, as long as nothing of the enclosed data is changed or the conditions in the file [Legal.Readme] are obeyed. [assembler.name] [assembler.address] -------------------------------CUT HERE--------------------------- @endnode @node "ExampleConfigurations" "SHARECOMPILATION - Example configurations." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "Glossary" @prev "ExampleLicense" @{b}@{u}Example configurations.@{ub}@{uu} *** Sorry not yet written in this draft version of this document. Will be added as soon as possible! @endnode @node "Glossary" "SHARECOMPILATION - Glossary." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "WhatsNew" @prev "ExampleConfigurations" @{b}@{u}Glossary@{ub}@{uu} 'assembler' - (The one who puts all the data together.) 'author' - (The one who writes or generates the individual software packages.) 'distributor' - (The one who sells the product to the 'users'.) 'MSRP' - (The Maximum Suggested Retail Price that was defined by the 'author' for the software package, defined by the 'assembler' for the compilation and that the 'producer' agreed to accept in the process of negotiating with the 'assembler'.) This was a definition that was introduced in Rev. 0.7 and is obsolete for Rev. 0.8 and higher. To keep all revisions compatible, the assembler Has to verify all 'MSRP' references against the 'suggested retail price' that has to be clearly visible on the cover. References to Revision 0.7 of this document regard this MSRP as defined for a CD-ROM production of 3000 pieces. See also the @{"'What's revision'" link "WhatsNew" 0} section. 'producer' - (The one who actually invests in the production of the CD or whatever storage medium is distributed.) 'share' - ("... 2 a: to partake of, use, experience, occupy, or enjoy with others ..." Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition.) 'user' - (The one who want to get hold of the software.) @endnode @node "WhatsNew" "SHARECOMPILATION - What's new in this revision." @toc "TableOfContents" @next "AdditionalThoughts" @prev "Glossary" @{b}@{u}What's new in this revision?@{ub}@{uu} Following is a list of the changes to the document from revision 0.7 to revision 0.8: - Transformed the text into an hypertext document (AmigaGuide, others can be generated with reasonable effort). - The 'text only' version is derived more or less automatic from the hypertext version, so they should really have the same content. - Slightly updated and improved the overall text. - No more German versions promised for 'near' release due to the problems in keeping the two big texts synchronous. - Added the 'What's new in this revision' section. - Updated the '@{"Table contents" link "TableOfContents" 0}'. - Updated the '@{"Glossary" link "Glossary" 0}'. - At the end of section @{"'The details: single 'authors' side.'" link "DetailsAuthor" 0} some information about other possible producers was added. Furthermore a paragraph was added with respect to responsibilities of the 'assembler': "If you have reason to suspect any sharecompilation that claims to follow these definitions to contravene against a rule - especially regarding the 'low profit' and 'economic production' ideas - then please contact the 'assembler', since I am not able to verify the individual contracts." - A paragraph was added to the rules of the 'assembler' and the 'producer, which I only included to clarify things. Naturally the 'producer' has to cover all the costs involved with the production of the medium, including (a preferable attractive) cover etc. And since the inclusion of such a transfer form has proven to be critical for the amount of donations received it has to be included on request of the 'assembler': "It is advisable that in the case, that a voluntary donation is requested from the 'users', a kind of transfer form to an account is included with each CD. The 'producer' has to accept this on demand of the 'assembler'." - A further paragraph of the rules of the 'producer' was updated: "The suggested retail price, on which the 'assembler' and 'producer' agreed in their treaty, has to be clearly visible on the package. It is suggested to print the price in multiple currencies if you expect a multi-national distribution. For foreign countries the price mentioned might be as high as an US $ 13 equivalent even if the national price is lower because of the additional costs that result from higher shipping rates (from 'producer' to the 'distributor') and/or tax rates etc." - In '@{"The legal definitions sharecompilation" link "LegalDefinitions" 0}' a paragraph was added to enable a 'cover mounted' distribution: " - If a 'producer' is a publisher who wants to mount the distributed media onto the cover of a magazine or news paper, the following exception rules may be applied, but only for a period of time after the 'first producer protection period': - it is declared to be legal, that the 'assembler' offers him the 'exclusive' distribution right for this form of distribution in a certain domain and for a given time period. (Other distribution channels in the same domain or elsewhere are not touched by this 'exclusive right' and may exist at the same time!) - the 'retail price' of the complete product, including the sharecompilation media, has to be lower than or equal to US $13 (DM 20). The 'first producer' may voluntary give a written declaration of consent to make such a production possible during his 'exclusive production period'. These exception were necessary since such a 'cover mounted' distribution has to be planed a long time in advance and it does not make sense to have two or more magazines with the same disk on it, neither for the publishers nor for the readers." - I also added some information about first experiences with this concept in the @{"'Additional thoughts'" link "AdditionalThoughts" 0} section. The biggest change was introduced by the dropping of the dreaded 'MSRP' and the subsequent updates to all the sections. The most important changes are presented as paragraphs of the respective sections below: @{"'The legal definitions sharecompilation." link "LegalDefinitions" 0} "- For all people involved there is an upper limit for the suggested retail price, that has to be included on the cover of the product, of US $ 13 (DM 20) for a single distribution media (CD-ROM, Streamer tape or equivalent - no Floppy Disks allowed!). If the sharecompilation consists of more than one of these pieces that are distributed as a kind of 'set', then the overall 'suggested retail price' for the 'set' may be US $ 7 (DM 10) higher for each additional piece. Any lower price is naturally welcome and it is the responsibility of the 'assembler' to uphold the principle of low profit margins and economic production/ distribution. From revision 0.8 on, this has to be true for any production volume, distribution form, media etc. (This has proven to be reasonable with the production of the first sharecompilation 'Meeting Pearls Volume I' managed by Angela Schmidt - see also the section @{"'Additional thoughts" link "AdditionalThoughts" 0}')." @{"'The details: single 'authors' side.'" link "DetailsAuthor" 0} "The old identification phrase is still compatible with Rev. 0.8 and higher, since the assembler has to verify the MSRP that you defined for Rev. 0.7 against the 'suggested retail price' that has to be clearly visible on the cover. For details about the amounts that can be demanded for the sharecompilation in which your work might be included see the @{"'The legal definitions sharecompilation.'" link "LegalDefinitions" 0} section." @{"'The details: 'producers' side.' " link "DetailsProducer" 0} "The 'producer' has to provide the 'assembler' with reasonable information to verify, that the production is economic and follows the principle of low profit margins. (For example it can not be viewed as an economic production, if the producer claims production costs that only allow a suggested retail price of US $ 13 (DM 20) for a production run of 100000 CD-ROMs.)" All refererences of the original identification phrase were replaced by: ""Sharecompilation Rev. 0.8 as defined by Martin Kopp, Mannheim, Germany" (See the @{"'What's revision'" link "WhatsNew" 0} section for information on the old identification phrase, that was introduced in Rev. 0.7 and included a @{"'MSRP'" link "Glossary" 0} definition.)" That's all so far for revision 0.8. @endnode @node "AdditionalThoughts" "SHARECOMPILATION - Additional thoughts." @toc "TableOfContents" @prev "WhatsNew" @{b}@{u}Additional thoughts.@{ub}@{uu} There are many of them, they will be presented in the future revisions. But If you got some ideas of how to improve these definitions, this document or whatever has to do with SHARECOMPILATION, feel free to pass them to me and I will surely consider them for inclusion in the next revision. Till then I only want to give you some facts about the first CD-ROM produced under the sharecompilation concept. It is named "Meeting Pearls Volume I" (as I already mentioned in the text 8-)) and was assembled by a group of people around Angela Schmidt, who managed the CD. It was an instant success and climbed the Amiga CD-ROM charts as a rocket and was playing well in the league of the likes of 'FreshFish' and 'Aminet Share'. Considering, that the 'Meeting Pearls' was a newcomer and therefore had no bonus of a popular, well introduced name, this was amazing. Till now there were sold more than 6500 pieces! Several other CD-ROM producers followed the trend set by 'Meeting Pearls' (and 'Aminet Share', not produced under this concept) and presented new CD-ROM titles in the range of DM 20 (US$13). More than 1700 DM (more than US$ 1000) were received as voluntary donations at this time and there are still coming more of them. It proved to be critical to have a kind of transfer form to an account included with the CD. Most of the donations were received on such a form, that sadly wasn't included in the complete distribution. This will be fixed for the next CD-ROM "Meeting Pearls Volume 2" which once again will be a sharecompilation as presented in this document. While the success of the first volume was naturally due to the extremely high quality of this CD (reviewed as 'one of the best CD-ROMs for the Amiga' by several magazines) and the superb presentation of the included goodies, the concept of the sharecompilation proved to be a reliable base for the work of the 'assembler' and the 'producer'. I hope that this will encourage others to follow this path. (By the way, the CD-ROM 'Fresh Fonts' by Daniel Amor and Amiga Library Services was produced under a similar concept and was also called a sharecompilation. But, as the assembler explicitly states in his 'ReadMe', does not follow the exact definitions as they are defined in this document. This shows, on the other hand, the importance to include the exact reference to this document if you want to use it in a legal context.) P.S.: Up to now I only received one (!) written comment to the concept besides several generally positive reactions from people I talked to and naturally the sugeestions of the people using it which lend to this new revision. Obviously long boring texts are not so popular these days (but please be aware of the fact that you only have to read it while I had to sit down for hours and hours keeping me awake writing all this stuff 8-)) - or maybe everyone is perfectly happy with it. But no, this is not possible since there is someone very unhappy with this concept: I mentioned one written comment --- This single email was obviously from a person that either hadn't read the text - or maybe he didn't understood what he read - or otherwise was so self-centered that he really could imagine someone writing all this stuff just to get his name on the cover 'of every CD-ROM' ... He claimed to define his own sort of compilation to control the contents of certain distributions (and maybe the rest of the universe) and explicitely defined that his programs shall not be contained on any sharecompilation. Since I do not control every single sharecompilation but only offer these rules for those willing to follow them I will not manage a kind of 'black list'. The author who wants to prohibit the distribution of his (or her) program etc. on sharecompilations has to include this in the disclaimer or pass the information on another path to the assemblers. But who in the world would cancel a possible cheap distribution channel with multi-thousand pieces spreading capability only because it is legally neccessary to include a reference to a defined person on the product (which I would gladly live without!). So much for the afterlaugh ... Thank you, for your patience! @{"THE END." quit} @endnode @node HeddleyAutoIndex "Index" @remark Index auto-generated by Heddley Index of database SHARECOMPILATION Documents @{"SHARECOMPILATION - 'Assemblers' details." link "DetailsAssembler"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - 'Authors' side." link "DetailsAuthor"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - 'Distributors' details." link "DetailsDistributor"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - 'Producers' details." link "DetailsProducer"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Additional thoughts." link "AdditionalThoughts"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Advantages." link "Advantages"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Analysis of the situation." link "Analysis"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Copyright." link "Copyright"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - English Guide." link "Main"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Example configurations." link "ExampleConfigurations"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Example disclaimer 'Assembler'." link "ExampleDisclaimerAssembler"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Example disclaimer 'Author'." link "ExampleDisclaimerAuthor"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Example documents." link "ExamplesGeneral"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Example license." link "ExampleLicense"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Example treaty 'Assembler'<->'Producer'." link "ExampleTreaty"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Glossary." link "Glossary"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - How to read this document." link "HowToRead"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Legal definitions." link "LegalDefinitions"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Short introduction." link "ShortIntroduction"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Table of Contents." link "TableOfContents"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Title, Revision, Availability." link "TitleRevisionAvailability"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - What's new in this revision." link "WhatsNew"} @{"SHARECOMPILATION - Where does it come from?" link "WhereDoesItComeFrom"} Buttons document' section hurried readers. " link "HowToRead" 0} 'What's revision' summary. " link "WhatsNew" 0} short introduction concept sharecompilation. " link "ShortIntroduction" 0} Additional thoughts. " link "AdditionalThoughts" 0} Copyright. " link "Copyright" 0} Example configurations. " link "ExampleConfigurations" 0} Example disclaimer Share-/Free-/XXXware 'author'. " link "ExampleDisclaimerAuthor" 0} Example disclaimer Sharecompilation 'assembler'. " link "ExampleDisclaimerAssembler" 0} Example disclaimers " link "ExamplesGeneral" 0} Example license included compilation. " link "ExampleLicense" 0} Example sharecompilation treaty 'assembler' 'producer'. " link "ExampleTreaty" 0} Glossary. " link "Glossary." 0} document. " link "HowToRead" 0} Short introduction: sharecompilation software? " link "ShortIntroduction" 0} analysis situation. " link "Analysis" 0} copyright statement address author. " link "Copyright" 0} details: 'assemblers' side. " link "DetailsAssembler" 0} details: 'distributors' side. 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