People are people but there are also cultural differences about copying the IP of others as either clever or devious. We also mature to different understanding of the value of this as property between being children and adults (well some do mature).thermionic said:You think the audio business is worse than other product fields? I tend to think people-are-people.
There is a fine line, but a line, between being inspired by or copying previous IP. Most invention builds upon the foundation of previous art, this the whole rational of patents publishing the invention so others can learn and build upon that.You get those who will take the easy route without crediting the originator in any industry. We are all influenced by others to an extent, so there's no real thing as a *totally original* design (or piece of music for that matter)
Behringer has gone through different phases in their corporate lifetime. They have had to pay a relatively small fraction of the times they have been charged, but this reflects more on the difficulty to perfect and prosecute IP protection, not a testament to their behavior. The judge just dismissed the lawsuit between my former employer and them over one of my patents they used as "inspiration".- that's not my beef. My issue is with firms such as Beh, who deliberately copy other firms hook, line and sinker, without even trying to disguise the origins. When I read an interview with Aphex's president, he called Uli Beh a 'sociopath' - I couldn't agree more.
One corporate phase beginning roughly with the knock-off the Mackie 8-bus, and slowly tapering off as there are less obvious category killers to copy. You can still see echoes of other companies designs in some of their new offerings, while they have matured to actually doing more original product too. While not completely original, more like a way cheaper version of professional product.
As long as they behave and win in court they are legal to keep on keeping on. The recent PR charm offensive from Uli himself posting to forums has been pretty effective, not to covert those who lived through the wars, but for the new crop coming up, who don't understand all the old haters. 8)
The way I see it, you can wear a white dress to your wedding, but don't expect me to believe you are a virgin. i was at that party too. ;D
JR