Watchtower Library on DVD

[carlos]

15 minutes ago, Sheep said:

If I tried to reinstall again I think it would combine everything into one download file rather than the individual downloads along the way.

Yes, I can confirm that. I reinstalled it recently and it downloaded update 4 only. So every update contains the previous ones.

[mserskine]

1 hour ago, Sheep said:

Good for you! It took you a while to get your copy too. A lot longer than it took me, and I thought I  was getting tired of waiting!

 

 

Well, I had gotten  it  from a link provided to me from someone on this form while ago. I was just curious if I needed to reinstall it will install everything. Thanks

[insigth]

hello brothers maybe you can help me, where to download watchtower Library 2016 English. thanks a lot

[Sheep]

8 hours ago, insigth said:

hello brothers maybe you can help me, where to download watchtower Library 2016 English. thanks a lot

 

If you're talking about the original program, it is only available on a DVD that you can obtain through your local congregation. It's not something you can download anywhere (at least not legally). However, updates to Watchtower Library 2016 are automatically downloaded and installed once you have the DVD installed, or whenever they become available thereafter.

 

Aside from that, I see you are Filipino. Magandang umaga sa iyo ang aking kapatid at maligayang pagdating sa JWTalk! Congratulations on your first post here!

 

[Musky]

13 hours ago, insigth said:

hello brothers maybe you can help me, where to download watchtower Library 2016 English. thanks a lot

 

I sent you a PM. Please check your inbox. 

[carlos]

7 hours ago, Sheep said:

It's not something you can download anywhere (at least not legally).

 

Or maybe yes.

 

*** wtlib-help License Agreement ***
2. GRANT OF LICENSE. Watch Tower grants you the right to use personally the SOFTWARE and DATA. Subject to restrictions set forth in this Agreement, you may install the SOFTWARE and DATA onto your personally-owned computer(s). Any DATA you copy shall be for your noncommercial purposes. You may transfer the Product to another party who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who agrees to be bound by the terms of this Agreement.

 

[Thesauron]

 
Or maybe yes.
 
*** wtlib-help License Agreement ***
2. GRANT OF LICENSE. Watch Tower grants you the right to use personally the SOFTWARE and DATA. Subject to restrictions set forth in this Agreement, you may install the SOFTWARE and DATA onto your personally-owned computer(s). Any DATA you copy shall be for your noncommercial purposes. You may transfer the Product to another party who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who agrees to be bound by the terms of this Agreement.
 

You may install it on your personal computer, but not necessarily transfer it to a server for download by a third party. You may, however, give your DVD to another Witness after you have installed the program yourself. In some congregations the BoE has decided to make a copy or two available to borrow from the literature counter.


Johan

[jwhess]

47 minutes ago, Thesauron said:

You may install it on your personal computer, but not necessarily transfer it to a server for download by a third party. You may, however, give your DVD to another Witness after you have installed the program yourself. In some congregations the BoE has decided to make a copy or two available to borrow from the literature counter.

Since some modern computer systems (and tablets) do not have cd/dvd players installed, we have arranged for the files to be copied onto 'flash-drives' for proper installation.

[Musky]

As long as the person you are sharing the WTL files with is "one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who agrees to be bound by the terms of this Agreement"  After that statement allowing the files to be transferred, no other restrictions are specified in the user agreement. There is no mention as to how the files are to be transferred, DVD, flash-drive, network transfer, etc.

 

We have had this conversation many times before. it's Déjà vu all over again 

Edited September 4, 2017 by Musky

[insigth]

Yea, thank you all you brothers  for the reminders. 

[Thesauron]

As long as the person you are sharing the WTL files with is "one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who agrees to be bound by the terms of this Agreement"  After that statement allowing the files to be transferred, no other restrictions are specified in the user agreement. There is no mention as to how the files are to be transferred, DVD, flash-drive, network transfer, etc.
 
We have had this conversation many times before. it's Déjà vu all over again 

I believe the idea is that you should not make it widely available. In time the GB might make it available online. It's a grey area when you transfer the material unto another medium.


Johan

[Old]

46 minutes ago, Thesauron said:

I believe the idea is that you should not make it widely available. In time the GB might make it available online. It's a grey area when you transfer the material unto another medium.


Johan

2

Under United State copyright laws a person that has owns a copy of work is free to have a copy in any medium of choice. You can make an audio copy, scan it into a PDF, transfer to a memory stick, print it out in big letters, virtually any thing you might want to do with your copy. I am not saying that this copied medium should be publicly circulated, just that transferring the DVD to a medium of personal choice is allowed. Long before our Society became involved in electronic media, many years ago, many of us had copies of all our current publications on hard drives and it was no violation of copyright because we all own the publications in print form. To transfer the Incite Book required 18 floppy disks. Circulating copies entered into a grey area and when some brothers began charging for these files they were told to cease and desist.

[Thesauron]

Under United State copyright laws a person that has owns a copy of work is free to have a copy in any medium of choice. You can make an audio copy, scan it into a PDF, transfer to a memory stick, print it out in big letters, virtually any thing you might want to do with your copy. I am not saying that this copied medium should be publicly circulated, just that transferring the DVD to a medium of personal choice is allowed. Long before our Society became involved in electronic media, many years ago, many of us had copies of all our current publications on hard drives and it was no violation of copyright because we all own the publications in print form. To transfer the Incite Book required 18 floppy disks. Circulating copies entered into a grey area and when some brothers began charging for these files they were told to cease and desist.

Yes, private use falls under a different category. We are allowed to install the files on our own computer(s) for our personal use.


Johan

[carlos]

6 hours ago, Thesauron said:

I believe the idea is that you should not make it widely available

 

Yes, I think we all agree that uploading the files somewhere and posting the link publicly is not allowed by the license.

 

But since sharing the software with other Christians is allowed, and nothing is specified about the way it must be shared, we think it's perfectly ok to send a private link to brothers who ask for it.

[Thesauron]

 
Yes, I think we all agree that uploading the files somewhere and posting the link publicly is not allowed by the license.
 
But since sharing the software with other Christians is allowed, and nothing is specified about the way it must be shared, we think it's perfectly ok to send a private link to brothers who ask for it.

Maybe, but as I said, when you transfer the software to another medium, you enter a legally grey area. This is because you have the right to share the DVD, but not necessarily make copies of it other than for your own private use.


Johan

[Musky]

6 hours ago, carlos said:

But since sharing the software with other Christians is allowed, and nothing is specified about the way it must be shared, we think it's perfectly ok to send a private link to brothers who ask for it.

 

Yes, Carlos, that is my and my body of elders reasoning also, along with our CO. (I sent him a download link because he was having trouble getting a DVD to use.)

Edited September 5, 2017 by Musky

[Stavro]

54 minutes ago, Thesauron said:

Maybe, but as I said, when you transfer the software to another medium, you enter a legally grey area. This is because you have the right to share the DVD, but not necessarily make copies of it other than for your own private use.

 

If someone does not have a DVD drive in their computer, what would be the legally acceptable procedure to assist them in installing the software?

[Thesauron]

 
If someone does not have a DVD drive in their computer, what would be the legally acceptable procedure to assist them in installing the software?

The law does not bother with that issue, as far as I'm aware. In fact, the best is to get the hardware you need to read the medium. That way you avoid such grey areas.


Johan

[Stavro]

4 minutes ago, Thesauron said:

In fact, the best is to get the hardware you need to read the medium.

 

So the elderly sister in a nursing home with an old hand-me-down netbook should spend hundreds of dollars she doesn't have upgrading to something with a DVD drive?

 

The copy of WTL I'm using right now was received via email from the CO. In my new hall (different CO) the software can be requested via DVD through the regular shipment, or publishers can leave their email or a thumb drive with the literature servant and get a copy of the DVD on a different medium. According to the SO, this arrangement was suggested by the CO last year.

[carlos]

3 hours ago, Thesauron said:

Maybe, but as I said, when you transfer the software to another medium, you enter a legally grey area. This is because you have the right to share the DVD, but not necessarily make copies of it other than for your own private use.

 

Johan, I think there is a misunderstanding here. Yes, the law has the concept of private copy that applies in some cases and not in others. But I was not talking about the law. I quoted the Watchtower Library License Agreement itself, that says "You may transfer the Product to another party who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who agrees to be bound by the terms of this Agreement." If the product owner, which is the organization, allows sharing the files with other Christians, without specifying whether by means of a DVD, an USB pendrive or through a download, as you said elsewhere it's not cool to make rules where there are none.

 

The purpose of the copyright on Watchtower Library is to prevent distribution to non-Witnesses as well as distribution of tampered with copies, not to prevent Christians to have a copy of the software. That wouldn't make sense.

[Thesauron]

 
Johan, I think there is a misunderstanding here. Yes, the law has the concept of private copy that applies in some cases and not in others. But I was not talking about the law. I quoted the Watchtower Library License Agreement itself, that says "You may transfer the Product to another party who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses who agrees to be bound by the terms of this Agreement." If the product owner, which is the organization, allows sharing the files with other Christians, without specifying whether by means of a DVD, an USB pendrive or through a download, as you said elsewhere it's not cool to make rules where there are none.
 
The purpose of the copyright on Watchtower Library is to prevent distribution to non-Witnesses as well as distribution of tampered with copies, not to prevent Christians to have a copy of the software. That wouldn't make sense.

I understand where you are coming from, but your interpretation is nonetheless within a grey area. And that alright. The laws governing these things go further back than copyright laws regarding written material. Sometimes even as far back as the laws governing patterns from the industrialisation. Rights to transfer the pattern had to be explicit, as I understand it, not the other way around. You could perhaps argue that it has changed, but as I said, I believe you'd be entering a grey area. It's ok as long as you're aware, and have a good and solid reasoning.


Johan

[jwhess]

If everyone who wants the dvd library gets it installed, the point will be moot since it will automatically update without dvd, cd or flash drive.  There will be a minimal need for copies in the future.

[Stavro]

3 hours ago, Thesauron said:

I understand where you are coming from, but your interpretation is nonetheless within a grey area.

 

The terms of a copyright are defined by the holder of the copyright, not the government, and the branch has said it's acceptable to make copies for others via any convenient medium.

 

A lesser-known aspect of copyright law is the fact that copyrighted movies distributed for personal viewing cannot be shown to large groups, or in facilities where the public may attend. That would make every midweek meeting a clear violation of copyright law, if not for the fact that the copyright holder, the branch, has given us clear permission to do so, just as they have given us permission to redistribute the Watchtower Library software.

 

The government does give guidelines that are followed legally in absence of any clear license or permission from the copyright holder, but they cannot invalidate permission given by the copyright holder and declare WTL copies and midweek meeting videos to be illegal.

[Thesauron]

 
The terms of a copyright are defined by the holder of the copyright, not the government, and the branch has said it's acceptable to make copies for others via any convenient medium.
 
A lesser-known aspect of copyright law is the fact that copyrighted movies distributed for personal viewing cannot be shown to large groups, or in facilities where the public may attend. That would make every midweek meeting a clear violation of copyright law, if not for the fact that the copyright holder, the branch, has given us clear permission to do so, just as they have given us permission to redistribute the Watchtower Library software.
 
The government does give guidelines that are followed legally in absence of any clear license or permission from the copyright holder, but they cannot invalidate permission given by the copyright holder and declare WTL copies and midweek meeting videos to be illegal.

Where did they give you the permission to distribute the software by any means other than handing the DVD to your friend?


Johan

[Qapla]

Where did they explicitly restrict that method, since they did give permission to share the Library?

 

I may be mistaken, but, I seem to remember that the letter read to the Congregation that announced the release did allow for copying it to USB drives to share - thus cutting down on the number of physical DVDs needed to be supplied - they cost money to make.