Re: Inclusion of ROM images - copyright
From: Giuliano P Procida <gpp10@cam.ac.uk>
> The VICE source currently contains:
>
> a) some ROMs as separate files
These are explicitly copyrighted products, the copyright holder has
(as far as I have heard) never replied to requests to allow them to
be used.
> b) some ROMs defined as C arrays
> the things in b) include character definitions for the textmode
> (which were in a ROM on the circuit board of the C64)
> and character definitions for Commodore's dox matrix printer (whee!).
Fonts are most definitely copyright-able, and no doubt these were
copyrighted. If they are look-alikes that someone drew without directly
tracing the characters, they are OK.
> imagine if the RGB levels for the 16
> colours of the VIC II chip are held internally in some sort of ROM
> lookup table (I think they are) - does this mean they are also subject
> to copyright and cannot be compiled in?
You could probably derive these without violating the copyright.
> What about manifest constants that are used to simulate the workings
> of SID (the sound chip) - how do we even know that there is no
> occurance of these values in ROM in the chip itself?
The documentation of the SID is published, you could buy (at least when
it was in print) a book including this without signing a license.
Bruce
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