[Scott L.]

Originally Posted by dlavery

Actually, to go even a little bit further than Mike did in the previous post - remember that the FRC manual is a copyrighted work. Just because FIRST posts it on their servers for teams to download for their use does NOT mean that you can do the same. We have been through this many time on these forums. Copying a re-publishing the FRC manual without the express permission of FIRST is a violation of copyright laws, and it is illegal. The same thing is true for the game animation.



There is no debate about it. Republishing a copyrighted work without the express permission of the copyright holder is illegal. Period.

Have a question about this? Well, remember that the current president of FIRST is the former director of the US Patent and Trademark Office. I would be willing to bet that he has rather strong feelings on this topic (OK, no bet there at all - I know he does, we have talked about it before). He is quite familiar with the relevant law and exactly what rights FIRST has for the material that they own.

Now, realistically, will FIRST come running after you and have you arrested and/or fined for doing so? Unlikely, and I am sure that they have better things to do. Nonetheless, just because they don't have the resources to enforce this does not change the fact that you and your teams are supposed to be behaving honorably and professionally. You are on your honor to uphold and practice the legal and ethical standards that would be expected in any professional workplace. A violation of the law is a violation of the law. Would you do this as a part of your job? Would you do it if getting caught meant losing your job?

-dave




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Here is the response from FIRST when i e-mailed them in a previous year
This back from our IT group:

"We would prefer they not mirror any documents because they could change and we don't have an automatic mechanism to notify folks of changes that would automatically ensure update of their document. "

Let us know if you have any additional questions.

FRC Teams.