Who owns your camera's (electronic devices) firmware

patch29

Who owns the firmware is not something I thought about when buying my cameras, but Canon has some put some info in their EULA's (I am not sure about any other companies) about who owns the firmware, what if they decide to stop licensing it? I doubt that would happen, but it is something to be aware of.

I am posting this after reading, this article, on Engadget. Here is a partial quote from the article.

One particular example of outlandish licensing agreements is that of Canon's EOS-1D which includes a separate agreement related specifically to the software that runs on the camera -- effectively the consumer does not own the software that keeps the camera running; he or she is instead licensed the right to use it. One clause of the disclaimer actually removes Canon's obligation to service or repair the camera if the software fails.

claudermilk

Doesn't surprise me. Kind of the same concept as we photographers licensing the use of our images rather than selling complete ownership outright. The service clause sounds like a CYA in case a user does something silly like try and hack on it; firmware is generally something that is well-tested, works from the factory, and is not messed with by the end user.

BeachBill

effectively the consumer does not own the software that keeps the camera running; he or she is instead licensed the right to use it.

I'm not aware of any software that one actually "owns" outright. A license to use the software (the operating system, Photoshop, etc) has been standard software business practice for *years*.

Richard

One clause of the disclaimer actually removes Canon's obligation to service or repair the camera if the software fails.

I really can't take this sort of thing too seriously. They can put anything they like in a EULA clause, but that doesn't make it legally enforceable. More important, even if they did manage to survive a legal challenge, it would completely ruin their reputation as a vendor were they to try to avoid responsibility. I can't believe that Canon would be stupid enough to do that.

dragon300zx

That is put in there for a very specific reason. They don't want someone to buy a canon camera, take the canon firmware, and then design another camera to work off of their firmware. Or reverse engineer it, etc.