🚀 go-pugleaf

   As the copyright holders of the game Doom, Id can legally set up any set
of rules they want about who they give the right to copy it to.  It doesn't
have to be everybody or nobody.  They could say anyone who charges at least a
dollar has automatic permission to copy it, but people wanting to give it to
each other free don't.  That would be stupid and they'd never do it, but they
could.  They could say people giving it away free have permission, and
business that want to charge $20 a copy do too IF the owner of the business
has a last name beginning with L or W.  They could have decided that they
wanted only themselves to ever be able to play, and that they would let
NOBODY ever have the right to make copies under any circumstances.  It's
their game.

   As to what is ACTUALLY done in the shareware business, there's been a big
struggle in that industry between shareware authors, who used to just give
permission to all shareware resellers to sell as many copies as they please,
and the vendors.  In most cases, the vendors were making more money than the
shareware authors.  Even programs that almost never got registered would make
some money for the vendor.  A common arrangement that's arisen (though there
are a wide variety of types of deals being made) is for a vendor that has
shareware racks in supermarkets, bookstores, etc. to pay the author of the
shareware a dime in royalties for each copy sold.  A lot of the authors that
have this arrangement are making more money from that royalty than from the
registrations.

        Dr. Cat / Dragon's Eye Productions