Is calibre on microsoft store authored by this community?

[Josef Ludvicek]

Hello and thanks for awesome program.

I'd like ask if calibre on microsoft store https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9N...hl=en-us&gl=US

Is actually this software. It states that developer is RequestRealEstate.

I don't see any references to MS store on calibre download page.
https://calibre-ebook.com/download

I actually wouldn't mind buying the paid version from MS store if I knew the money actually goes to developers who are working on it.

Thanks, Josef

[kovidgoyal]

No, it's a rip off.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Josef Ludvicek

I actually wouldn't mind buying the paid version from MS store if I knew the money actually goes to developers who are working on it.

Thanks, Josef

It doesn't

Download here https://calibre-ebook.com/download
Note the © Kovid Goyal on the page and who wrote "No, it's a rip off.", and the Join date of 2006. Calibre was originally by Kovid for the Sony ereader, which was released in 2005, two years before the first Kindle, though Kovid wrote it for the 2006 Sony PRS 600. See https://calibre-ebook.com/about#history


See https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html

Click / tap the big "Support Calibre" button to make a donation do the main developer, Kovid Goyal. Plugins are developed by many people.

Also there is a donate link in the signature of Kovid's posts.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

It doesn't

Download here https://calibre-ebook.com/download
Note the © Kovid Goyal on the page and who wrote "No, it's a rip off.", and the Join date of 2006. Calibre was originally by Kovid for the Sony ereader, which was released in 2005, two years before the first Kindle, though Kovid wrote it for the 2006 Sony PRS 600. See https://calibre-ebook.com/about#history


See https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html

Click / tap the big "Support Calibre" button to make a donation do the main developer, Kovid Goyal. Plugins are developed by many people.

Also there is a donate link in the signature of Kovid's posts.

calibre was originally called LibPRS500 and written for the Sony Reader PRS-500.

[Karellen]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

No, it's a rip off.

Have you tried to get it removed from the store?

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Have you tried to get it removed from the store?

If they disclose source code, it is legitimate. (I doubt they do, but...)

[Karellen]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

If they disclose source code, it is legitimate. (I doubt they do, but...)

Sure, because it is FOSS

But "Calibre" the name and the logo I would imagine is trademarked by KovidGoyal. So even though the software is being used freely, the trademark is being infringed.

If they repackaged and rebranded, then there is no problem.

The claim at Microsoft would be Trademark Violation. That is my understanding and how we fight the ever losing battle over at Kodi.

[j.p.s]

I hadn't thought of that, but it doesn't look like Kovid's calibre in whatever styling is trademarked. This thread seems to be the only mention of calibre ebook management and trademark on the www.

SAP has a trademark on Calibre software platform and dozens of "Calibre" applications, none of which could be confused with calibre for ebooks. But I suspect Kovid isn't interested registering a trademark.

[Karellen]

Oh, that is a shame.

With us, most people aren't aware but Kodi is forked and rebranded quite a lot. So your Plex, DVDFab MediaPlayer, OpenELEC, LibreELEC, Mediaportal, Boxee to name a few are all Kodi rebranded with some tweaks to suit their own purposes.

We don't really care, and some of those other organisations contribute upstream to help improve Kodi as well as their own forks, others don't.

It's only when someone forks, uses our logo and essentially tries to pass themselves off as us do we request takedown notices via trademark violations.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Have you tried to get it removed from the store?

Nope, I dont police this stuff, I have better things to do with my time than playing endless whack-a-mole. And calibre used to be trademarked when I lived in the US decades ago, it isnt anymore.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Karellen

Oh, that is a shame.

With us, most people aren't aware but Kodi is forked and rebranded quite a lot. So your Plex, DVDFab MediaPlayer, OpenELEC, LibreELEC, Mediaportal, Boxee to name a few are all Kodi rebranded with some tweaks to suit their own purposes.

We don't really care, and some of those other organisations contribute upstream to help improve Kodi as well as their own forks, others don't.

It's only when someone forks, uses our logo and essentially tries to pass themselves off as us do we request takedown notices via trademark violations.

The developer of Playnite has had similar troubles with rip-offs being posted on the Microsoft Store. Hilariously, when he tried to put an update up himself, it got blocked:

Spoiler:

[Karellen]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Nope, I dont police this stuff, I have better things to do with my time than playing endless whack-a-mole.

Yes, it is extremely time-consuming and impossible to keep up with.
Buyer-beware.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Nope, I dont police this stuff, I have better things to do with my time than playing endless whack-a-mole. And calibre used to be trademarked when I lived in the US decades ago, it isnt anymore.

I would think you would maintain the trademark just to prevent someone else from trademarking the name.
Apache

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by Apache

I would think you would maintain the trademark just to prevent someone else from trademarking the name.
Apache

That's why I trademarked it to start with. But then I am really not going to bother trademarking it the world over.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Apache

I would think you would maintain the trademark just to prevent someone else from trademarking the name.
Apache

Costs a lot and has to be done in multiple places: USA, EU etc. Even then if someone has deep pockets and better lawyers, or determination they can take it:
iPad: Was Fujitsu
iPhone: Was Cisco
Apple and logo of a bitten Apple used by Apple Computers (now Apple) was the Beatles’ Apple Corp (a pun too), though the logo differed (completed core). Apple Computers lost twice, but got to keep name. First time they agreed to keep out of Music business. Then they launched iTunes. Remaining Beatles sued and got compensation again.
Apple DID lose to Swiss Rail and have to ditch appearance of a clock.
Apple won cases against Microsoft (Desktop) and Samsung (phone) they should never have won (not original, not unique, not novel/ prior art etc). The original iPhone (2007) was Samsung CPU, and bought in Fingerworks GUI. Trolltech's QT Phone edition and MS Zune (2006) were tiled GUIs before iPhone release and there were loads of similar form factor devices in 1990s. Some earlier phones had tiled GUI and Smartphones existed since 1998. Apple had not a single innovation in iPhone. Capacitive touch was 1980s and wasn't used by existing phones so they could have high resolution for sketch/handwriting, though most needed that for GUI too. The Apple innovation on iPhone was the marketing; all you can eat data (or large) + iPhone sub of one carrier per market when users in most places paid per second connect time or per Mbyte.

There were iRiver, Cowan, Rio and Creative mp3 players before iPod (release 2001, though iTunes was earlier). It was the 99p/99c per track deal with record companies that made the iPod a success, not anything to do with device. MS 'Plays For Sure' & MS Zune player (based on Toshiba HW, but own SW) was 5 years too late and doomed.
There were desktop WIMP GUIs since 1976 (long before Lisa/Mac from Apple. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had both seen Xerox GUI).
The USA USPTO has been broken since Victorian times when Edison exploited it. Later RCA was the behemoth that bullied via patents. Replaced by Qualcomm, IBM, Oracle and Apple today. A UK "Registered Design" is like a 3D physical trademark and is a USPTO "Design Patent".