add explanation of the similarity tool and our public preemptive defence against any copyright claim.
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@@ -69,3 +69,52 @@ to generate this call graph.
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To organise this as we develop, we will assemble the ROM from many separate source files, each with a single routine in it, and with the name of the file matching the routine. Where code must be placed at a specific address, the file should be called xxxx.routine.s, where xxxx is the address. We will write a special preprocessor that will take the routines and put them in the correct deterministic order, and make
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To organise this as we develop, we will assemble the ROM from many separate source files, each with a single routine in it, and with the name of the file matching the routine. Where code must be placed at a specific address, the file should be called xxxx.routine.s, where xxxx is the address. We will write a special preprocessor that will take the routines and put them in the correct deterministic order, and make
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sure that no address placement violations occur. To make this easier to do, we are using the Ophis assembler, as it makes it quite easy to check such things.
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sure that no address placement violations occur. To make this easier to do, we are using the Ophis assembler, as it makes it quite easy to check such things.
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# Defending against potential copyright infringement claims
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Our overall goal is to avoid any potential challenge against this software based on
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claims of copyright infringement from whoever may own the copyright to Commodore 64,
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65 or 128 computer ROMs. Therefore, in addition to the above procedure, we have a
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tool called similarity that can be run against one of the Commodore ROMs and our
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open-source ROMs to look for any similarity exceeding 2 bytes, and provides an
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explanation for every such similarity, or shows the sequence of bytes.
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Matches of single bytes are excluded, because every byte value is statistically
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likely to be present in any substantial program, and thuss cannot possible be copyright.
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As similar argument applies to pairs of bytes.
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For 3 byte sequences, we ignore all single CPU instructions, as it cannot be argued that
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any specific instruction of the 6502 processor could be copyrighted in its binary form.
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We also automatically exclude some very common 3 byte sequences, such as any branch
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followed by its 1 byte argument and any following opcode. There is simply no creative
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value possible in a pairingg of two instructions, the first of which is a branch.
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Similarly, any 3 byte sequence that ends in storing a value into a zero page location is
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excluded on the basis that such sequences occur with extreme frequency, and are a natural
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result of writing 6502 code.
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Similarly loading or comparing the A register, followed by any single instruction cannot
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possibly be copyrightable. Similarly for many other 2-byte instructions.
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All other matches of at least 3 bytes are searched for in the strings/ directory for
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a file with matching name, and if present, the first line of that file is shown as
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an explanation. These files contain our opinions on why such sequences cannot be
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copyrightable, or failing that, the subject of any claim of copyright infringement with
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respect to the C64/C65/C128 ROMs by their owners.
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That is, we are seeking to be totally transparent in the creation of our free ROMs
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for these 8-bit computers, and providing reasoned arguments in advance for all to see.
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This should appease potential users of them, while also providing clear justification
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to anyone who might seek to bring any legal challenge against them. Basically if you
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can't provide a strong argument as to why our reasoning on a given byte sequence is
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fatally flawed, then we have every intention to seek dismissal of any case with prejudice
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and seeking costs, because we have provided you with access to information that disproves
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such a case along with the software, and bringing or threatening to bring any case
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against the authors or distributors of this software based on copyright infringement against
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the C64/C65/C128 ROMs is therefore clearly vexatious, since it is bought without refuting
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our publicly documented explanation as to why this software is not infringing.
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# Note regarding trademarks
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Commodore and other trademarks are trade-marks of their owners, whoever that may be at any particular point in time.
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