(Rev 1.00, 22Nov2005)

If you read this (lengthy) post, you can learn about:

1. U.S. Federal Law, Title 17, Chapter 1 in particular.
2. Protecting your legally owned software.
3. Sharing files.
4. Your rights as a copyright holder.
5. Examples of the EULA.
6. Company legal 'tricks' (e.g., Sony & their audio CD EULA & secret rootkit).

Maybe you were linked here because you posted about a problem, such as scratched/destroyed CDs. Take your time. Read, and reread so you understand your legal rights, and can make honest decisions about not just RTW, but software you legally own, or things you talk about, or what your create.

Note 1: If you intended to learn about HOW to legally back up your legally owned software, as is your right under U.S. Federal Law, then you need not read further. That is not the topic of this post.

Note 2: the Law, not my post, is "the" authority. Anything that contravenes established law is in error, and the actual law must be followed. The law, and its interpretation, are dynamic. The sources of the actual law text are the US Government General Printing Office (GPO) and Cornell University Law School, Legal Information Institute.

INTRODUCTION
I made this post after realizing that somewhere in the world, some of you real people (many of whom are not even yet 18) have lost real assets (e.g, damaged, scratched, ruined original RTW game disks), yet evidently you did not realize (or maybe just think about) the steps that the US Congress has taken to protect both you (the legal, retail purchaser of computer software like RTW) and the maker of the software (like Activision).

SCOPE
I will now lay it out for those who want to know what U.S. Federal Law really says... and not what opinions, loudmouths, lies, misinformation, and dishonest EULAs often would like you to believe (for a shock of how a multi-billion dollar corporation deceives its honest customers, google for "Sony EULA" read the 3,000 word Sony EULA on their notorious spyware rootkit music CDs!).

EULAs
End-User License Agreements (or EULAs) do not take precedence over U.S. Federal Law, no matter what they EULA might say (or force you to click, like Sony secretly did with its terrible rootkit music CDs during the last year). That is because corporations and software writers are not the Law, they are not Congress, and they are not the Court(s) that interpret Law. But you must know the existing Law in order to decide for yourself what is B.S. and what is not .

SCRATCHED DISKS
There are true proactive solutions for RTW scratched disks, but again, I won't diverge into a discussion of how to ensure you and your legally owned software can be protected under the law. Instead, you will learn what the law actually says. No person, company, or even state (in American jurisdiction) can legally contradict U.S. Federal Law. Courts settle any arguments (but sometimes even Supreme Courts get sidetracked and fail to answer the legal issues put before them ). Opinions of people -- especially posters on the Internet (including me, Wartrain) -- do not not count, legally. Rather, look to the Law itself (as HeavenGames wisely says in paragraph 2, bullet 3 of its Code of Conduct). Cut away the hype and crap, and read the real deal.

Take an example. The U.S. Government guarantees the protection of every single person who legitimately owns software to back it up for personal archive. For noobs to law, this is not -- I repeat, NOT --talking about warez, hacking, etc.! The law and this post imply absolutely no protection for software piracy!!

ARCHIVES
US Congress and courts grant all those in US legal jurisdiction the right of backup for personal use: it is thus smart then to follow the law's enabling and do it... media should immediately backed up upon legal purchase, and the originals safely stored. If the original or the backup is destroyed, the Law permits creation of another backup to replace the one which was destroyed. Know the law in your own country, and protect yourself and your property to the maximum extent permitted by the law of your country! Important: All countries do not necessarily have the same laws as America!!

COMPUTER PROGRAMS: Copyright Limitations
US Federal Law, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 117 is one of the most important parts of the Law which apply to computer software owners. Often, this is known as Title 17 for short, in context of computer software use.

Quoted from US Federal Law, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 117:

TRANSLATION OF THE LEGALESE
You have the legal right to make a copy for archival purposes, or to keep your legally owned software functioning. A EULA does not superceed Federal Law, nor can it make new law. This means it does not matter what the maker says or how they try to scare you away from making a backup archive of software you legally own.

For instance, a scratched CD renders you unable to perform required maintenance. That is, you cannot reinstall the game when files are corrupted, yet Activision says you need to do a reinstall for certain problems. When the disk is damaged, you need your archive copy to continue (or visa versa). The Law does not require you to purchase a second license to use the software, though you may do so if you wish (or if the company 'scares' you into doing so).

EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS
Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 106 (Exclusive rights in copyrighted works):

Quoted from US Federal Law, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 106:

What does this mean? It sets the basic rule, and (importantly!) allows certain exceptions. Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 106 sets the Law concerning Exclusive rights (copyrights) in copyrighted works. Of note are the EXCEPTIONS to Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 106: Particularly Fair Use.

FAIR USE: Limitations on exclusive rights!
Federal Law specifies many, many legal limitations on use of copyrighted material. I will now talk about a tiny fraction of the exceptions, and how they affect RTW.

Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 107

Quoted from US Federal Law, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 107:

This, and much more that I will not post (but you can read and interpret from the links - directly - for yourself!), make exceptions of sharing copyrighted work. Notable is:

Quoted from US Federal Law, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 107, Paragraph 1:

Most users criticizing, commenting, teaching others, or researching concerning the configuration files in RTW (or other games) falls within this exception. Read all of Title 17, Chapter 1, Sections 106-121 for yourself to gain the full context, however.

YOU: A COPYRIGHT HOLDER!
The Law does not prohibit you from distributing work you create, like a new drawing using Adobe Photoshop. Adobe cannot stop you from sharing work you create using their software, Microsoft cannot stop you from sharing documents created with Word, and game companies cannot stop you from distributing scripts, games, etc. which are your own non-derivative works (e.g., if it is something that only you did, it is OK).

Why? That is because you are the author of the content, called Intellectual Property (or IP for short). If you copyright a work (like a DOC or a save game), then others do not have the right to distribute it (unless, of course, you grant them that right or the Federal Law grants the the right, as it can in Title 17, Chapter 1, Sections 106-121). If Activision creates a save game and says you cannot share it, then you cannot share it unless you meet one of the Exceptions granted by Federal Law (e.g., US Federal Law, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 107). However, if YOU create a game, then it is your content, and you have the say over its use, subject to the same laws.

FOLLOW THE LAW
You are 'safe' (in America) for following the Law. The problem is that most people honestly don't have any idea what the "law" actually says! Manufacturers can (and DO) try to intimidate & lie to those honest people who buy their products (dishonest people don't care what the maker says to begin with!), but you have the right to back up your legally owned computer programs, and you have the right to share content you create, whether you exercise it or not. If you create it, you are the copyright holder... even if it is a game that you craft, and not some literary masterpiece. And as Sections 106 thru 121 of Title 17, Chapter 1 state, there are exceptions... which means you the copyright owner has LIMITATIONS in legally restricting what you can do with fully copyrighted material! But you must follow the law.

THE COMMON MAN
If anyone, including the legal eagles at companies like Activision or MS would like to take exception, then I expect a direct, clear citation of valid, applicable US case law to the contrary, and open a link to a thread you would like to start. Post the well-though out link here.

This entire post is made so average readers (with the patience to read this) know the true law, and will not be intimidated by "scare" tactics of EULAs that attempt (for instance) to forbid legal backing up of software that the good paying customers who have, in effect, been ripped out of their money (as some posters in this tread have been) because they did not do what the law entitled them to do, and now they have useless, scratched disks with no personal archive copy to perform and evidently no company willing to replace the disks for free (according to what I just re-read at the Activision website a little while ago to be sure), among other things, required operations and required software maintenance.

HEAVENGAMES POLICY
For easy reference, (v2.2 03/17/2005) Piracy:

Quoted from HeavenGames policy, version 2.5, 17Mar2005:

HeavenGames complies with the law, and correctly states the issues. Some people whom I have seen posting incorrectly read more into it, like "Oh my, you copied something, so that is piracy." Naturally, compliance with and full exercise of Title 17 is not piracy -- but some companies craftily and sneakily try to mislead (sometimes, like Sony, outright lie) honest people.

YOUR BATLLE ARMOR: TRUTH & KNOWLEDGE
Now you are clad in legal armor, and are liberated to protect yourself from these sneaky, sometimes dishonest, always faceless, backroom corporate lawyers whose full-time job it is to make legitimate software owners feel "guilty" about things that those highly paid corporate executives assume you will know nothing about... like Title 17.

THE SONY ROOTKIT & EULA
For example, in the last couple weeks, the reprehensible actions of Sony in the wake of the discovery on October 31st, 2005, that Sony was secretly taking over your machine with a rootkit... a illegal scheme which was lied about in their EULA... and which triggered the arrogant official response from the a Sony President in early November: "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" This President of Sony blatantly says that you are too stupid (my interpretation) to know about the foul scheme unleashed by Sony, and that Sony alone will stand as judge, jury, and executioner in deciding how and what they will do to your machine. The Sony (and RIAA) position is that neither you nor Microsoft (whose OS they subvert with the secret rootkit) nor the Law can have anything to say about it because you are all morons who don't care, especially since you "don't know" the secret things they are doing to you and how they are spying on you. Companies pay huge money... millions... to their shadowy backroom lawyers attempt to twist the Law, which is meant to protect you, into carte blanche to take over your machine at Sony's whim. You can listen to the actual audio of his official comments here. You can learn more here.

YOU ARE A TARGET
So in today's world, you are a target, even it all you want to do is legally by media. Even a President of a Billion-dollar corporation does not respect you and me -- the ones who go to the store and legally buy products (like Sony rootkit CDs pretending to just be audio CDs). The irony is that people who pirate the exact same Sony music were not affected. It was only the legal, loyal Sony CD buyers who were stabbed in the back by the rootkit, the EULA, the lies, the coverup, and the begrudging steps by Sony (when faced with outrage from people who learned what Sony has secretly been doing all year). Companies like Sony (and possible some others, particularly members of RIAA, who imply they are in the process of doing things similar to what Sony did) do trick and trap you, and laugh in your face. But the Attorney General in the great state of Texas knows the law. And evidently so do some nations, like Italy. And they will see Sony in court for their illegal deeds.

WHAT YOU NOW KNOW!
If you are in American jurisdictions, you now know the law (or at least have an inkling). You even have a glaring example of greedy corporate evil gone amok against its own loyal customers, and how sneaky lawyers can write EULAs to mislead you. You now know why and from what authority you can make your legal archival backups and protect yourself from the loss of your hard-earned money, such as ruin of your own, legal retail disk due to scratches or the dog eating it! And you now know about respect and use (including exceptions granted by law) of copyrighted material.

So there you have it... the ACTUAL law. It protects you, and it protects software writers! Questions?

If any post ever needed a bottom line, it is this one, LOL... so here it is:

THE BOTTOM LINE(s)!
1. You have the right to make a personal archival backup of any software you legally own.
2. The EULA cannot contradict US Federal Law (it often does contradict the Law, and many people assume the EULA is 'truth' when it is in fact a lie or at best a deception).
3. You can share work you create, like RTW games.
4. You can legally share, subject to the exceptions legally granted by Title 17, Chapter 1, Sections 107 thru 121, certain things which are copyrighted (for instance, game configuration files).
5. You may not pirate software.
6. You may not induce others to pirate software, e.g., peer-to-peer file sharing system operators like Grokster (The U.S. Supreme Court introduced the "inducement" concept in June 2005, when they reversed the Grokster Federal Court victory concerning 3rd party copywright infringement: it will take years for the lower courts to determine the practical legal application and consequences of this ruling).