I wonder how the JJ case worked out so well, actually.
He's been selling his OS for a long time.
Wondering why he hasn't been busted.
By Fanu
Sun Jan 05, 2020 6:43 am
By mr_debauch
Sun Jan 05, 2020 7:30 am
Fanu wrote:I wonder how the JJ case worked out so well, actually.
He's been selling his OS for a long time.
Wondering why he hasn't been busted.
the story i heard was that he had the right to... he was contracted by akai (not an employee) he wrote the original OS with his company in japan. he was not fully paid by akai... which boiled down to akai breaking the contract... then leading to JJ owning the work he did since they didn't fully pay for it... then he continued to work on his own creating updates beyond the outlines akai asked for. Seeing as he owns his own work and only expanded upon that, there isn't anything they can do.
MPC-Live/Remix16
By Danoc
Sun Jan 05, 2020 1:40 pm
Fanu wrote:I wonder how the JJ case worked out so well, actually.
He's been selling his OS for a long time.
Wondering why he hasn't been busted.
Im trying to figure how Black Lion is also when they modify Avid's hardware.
Dont2mess with Apple they will have you in court
By Lampdog
Sun Jan 05, 2020 3:32 pm
mr_debauch wrote:the story i heard was that he had the right to...
I’ve read this same thing in several different places also.
JJOS wasn’t a hack, it was his work. If it was a “hack” (use of a computer to gain unauthorized access)
and not his own code/work laws would have broken and he’d end up in legal troubles.
Stop getting automatically offended when you see gold letters!
By EnochLight
Sun Jan 05, 2020 3:48 pm
So he didn’t steal the source code after all. Allegedly. Interesting.
By MPC-Tutor
Sun Jan 05, 2020 6:28 pm
It's normal for contractors to work under a 'Work for Hire' contract, in which all IP/copyright to the works are handed over to the client upon full payment of the contract, but until that payment is received, the developer retains the ownership as it's effectively still his work. Don't pay the developer, don't get the code and forfeit the rights to it all.
But I doubt the situation is as simplistic as it's been presented, and as is often the case with 'break ups' , there's always two sides to each story. I also can't believe that Akai wouldn't already outright own some parts of the OS, be it code that originated from previous MPCs, trademarks, patents etc.
But I doubt the situation is as simplistic as it's been presented, and as is often the case with 'break ups' , there's always two sides to each story. I also can't believe that Akai wouldn't already outright own some parts of the OS, be it code that originated from previous MPCs, trademarks, patents etc.
By Monotremata
Sun Jan 05, 2020 6:58 pm
Yeah thats kind of weird. So technically if JJ does OWN the source code he wrote, wouldn't he have been able to take some sort of legal action against Akai for actually releasing the 1000 and 2500?? Maybe they both just have a silent agreement going 'Ok you do your JJOS and we'll sell the MPC and everybody lives happy ever after'?
By rvense
Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:10 pm
I doubt JJOS is a goldmine, to be honest. It might not be worth suing the guy... especially not if he has some counter-claim on Akai for not paying their bills; I have also heard this variation of the story. I think it's also quite possible that Akai did not live up to the contract, but that an individual decided it was not worth the time/effort to sue them. And if there are bankruptcies/restructurings/acquisitions between the current Akai and the one that released the MPC 1000, maybe neither party have grounds to sue. I think that gets complicated quickly.
I've never heard that the source code was stolen via (electronic) breaking and entering or anything like that. That sounds like it would really not go well. I think when people say that JJOS is the result of a hack, it's because they (incorrectly) think it's the result of reading the firmware out of the machine and modifying it.
I've never heard that the source code was stolen via (electronic) breaking and entering or anything like that. That sounds like it would really not go well. I think when people say that JJOS is the result of a hack, it's because they (incorrectly) think it's the result of reading the firmware out of the machine and modifying it.
By EnochLight
Sun Jan 05, 2020 10:08 pm
Well, taking into consideration the total dick move that Akai did to Roger Linn (the man who literally created the MPC as we know it today), I wouldn't be surprised that there is certainly two sides to the story.
By NearTao
Mon Jan 06, 2020 2:17 am
Don't discount how different the Japanese legal system is compared to Western legal systems either... if it was straight forward, either party would have done something by now...
By Menco
Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:28 am
NearTao wrote:Don't discount how different the Japanese legal system is compared to Western legal systems either... if it was straight forward, either party would have done something by now...
Plus Numark just had taken over Akai when JJOS was released. People at Numark probably also weren’t fully aware of what happenend between JJ and Akai. Together with their lack of knowledge of the Japanese legal system it’s assumable Numark didn’t take legal actions.
I also think Numark thought that the either the JJOS wouldn’t take off and not harm them, or that it would be received well by the 1000/ 2500 customers and help them to sell some extra units.
By CharlesRandolph
Mon Jan 06, 2020 4:24 pm
Fre$hBreath wrote:If someone pulled a JJOS move and hacked both the firmware and software of the MPC X to improve basically everything that is supposedly wrong with it, what can Akai Pro do about it?
I say read end user licence agreement: https://www.akaipro.com/product-legal-mpc-software. As far as the other stuff with JJ, we would need to see more actually information. As far as Roger Linn, he stated that he did not want to fight for his royalties, because in the end it would've cost too much on the legal side.
By EnochLight
Mon Jan 06, 2020 7:12 pm
It doesn't make what Akai did to Roger Linn any less of a total dick move:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Linn#Akai_MPC
According to Linn, the new [AKAI] was led by "a very unscrupulous fellow ... he immediately stopped my royalty payments, refused to take my calls and had his lawyer send me threatening letters. I checked around and learned that he has a reputation of being a real bastard, so given that challenging him would have been long and expensive, I let it go."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Linn#Akai_MPC