The mere inaccessability of a copyright holder does not relieve you of the
duty to obtain a license prior to taking any of the action reserved to the
copyright holder.  Any unlicensed copying makes one liable to injunction or
suit for damages if the copyright holder discovers the infringement and
seeks redress.

Your intended use appears to reach beyond the Fair Use doctrine.

Chuck

at 11:39 AM 10/1/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Does anyone know the answer to the following:
>
>If a software company has gone out of business and one can no longer
>purchase the software they made, is it OK to make copies of the software
>and provide it to, for example, a group of students in a class?
>
>I'd appreciate any feedback on this.
>
>LRL
>
>Liane Reif-Lehrer, PhD
>PO Box 645
>Belmont, MA  02178
>Tel: 617-863-1117;  Fax:  617-674-0436
>
Herbert B. Chermside, CRA
Director, Office of Sponsored Programs
Virginia Commonwealth University
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