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Making available documentation from Parallax via a third party site -- mine in this case — Parallax Forums

Making available documentation from Parallax via a third party site -- mine in this case

Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
in General Discussion
Hello!
What's the company policy regarding device documentation? For example I own several BASIC Stamp devices, such as two regular Stamp One devices and one OEM design. Also two Stamp Two designs.

I have up on my site an original design for connecting an original setup to a breadboard. I've since updated that design such that it is now mounted via Velcro on a Sparkfun Inventors Kit board. And is making use of the breadboard there.

What I'd like to do is post a (reasonably) good photo of the design, and probably the documentation for the OEM BS1 design, and a photo of it as well. I'll definitely put down on that page that the OEM BS1 is copyrighted by Parallax. And that that the BOM included makes it possible for anyone to build one, providing they follow the instructions given on another PDF.

Obviously it is up to the people at Parallax to say "NO" or "YES" to my idea.

Comments

  • JRetSapDoogJRetSapDoog Posts: 954
    edited 2017-10-22 17:01
    Can't speak for them, but I'd be surprised if Parallax had a problem with that. Seems like a win-win kind of thing. Anyway, as you may have seen, their Policies & Ordering Info page from a link at the bottom of their homepage says, "Use of Software & Educational Material - Parallax offers a variety of software, tutorials, PDF textbooks, and other learning materials to our customers at no monetary cost. Licenses and restrictions may apply to redistribution or modification; details are provided with each document or download, if applicable. By using our materials, you are agreeing to abide any and all listed restrictions or license terms." As such, perhaps the specific documentation you'd like to host/include mentions restrictions, if any.
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2017-10-22 21:42
    Having to deal with a bunch of people re-posting the documentation and giving each copyright permissions can be a real PITA. You might have better luck if you ask Parallax (via formal channels; i.e. not here) if they will release a version of these documents under Creative Commons, which is engineered for this sort of thing. You and your site visitors would then be bound by the terms of the CC license Parallax selects. This can include the Attribute, NonCommercial, and NoDerivatives types, for instance.

    The KickStarts I did in 2012 were all released under Creative Commons share-alike, and some of their newer documentation might be, too. So they're well aware of the ins-and-outs involved in the process.

    To start a conversation about this with Parallax, you might begin with editor@parallax.com, which is the email contact identified on their Terms of Use page.
  • Buck RogersBuck Rogers Posts: 2,185
    Hello!
    Thank you Gordon, excellent advice as always. Currently all I have up is just the new photo, (which has to updated again), and that's it.

    I'm going to give this a couple more days, and more comments. Then I'll write a carefully worded e-mail explaining my purpose on it.
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