My wife and I owned a small software company called BV Engineering, which sued the state of California over copyright violations and started the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act of 1990. UCLA pirated 11 different software products properly copyrighted by BV Engineering and refused to pay for their thefts when we confronted them. This went all the way to the Supreme Court of the USA, which refused the hear the case.
We then notified many larger organizations that had a lot more to lose, such as the book publishers, movie makers, etc. who hired lobbyists to petition Congress to change the Constitution to force States to obey copyright laws.
During congressional hearings, in order to get the required votes to get the new law passed, my wife and I agreed to allow the law to be non-retroactive. This meant that the States would not be held financially responsible for past transgressions, but also meant we would not financially benefit from the law change. This hurt but we swallowed the bitter pill so that valid copyright holders could benefit from their hard work.
It really sucks to hear that all that work and effort has been for naught now.
We left California 26 years ago to find a better life in New Zealand. Best decision we have ever made. The diving here is incredible, the people friendly and the government doesn't screw you.
