Software Engineering Stack Exchange
Software Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [copyright]

Software copyright is the extension of copyright law to machine-readable software

179 questions
41
votes
4 answers

Can I minify Javascript that requires copyright notice?

I guess this is actually a legal question, but it relates to software. I'm about to include a JS plugin in a project. The comments include: Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the …
Nathan Long
  • 3,667
31
votes
10 answers

How can I hide my signature in a program?

We have a university programming course and fellow students are asking some programming questions in our Facebook group. I'm a little hesitant to share all of my programs, especially if it's something cool for one of the assignments, since these are…
MikeFoxtrot
  • 591
29
votes
4 answers

How does fair use apply to code snippets?

Is there a size where you can copy under fair use for code you don't have a license for the purpose? For example, what if I copy a snippet that is (normally) 3 lines of code? Is that fair use? If it is fair use, what length is required before I need…
Casebash
  • 7,662
16
votes
2 answers

How to copyright personal code

I am writing a program using VBA because its readily available, the code will be available to Cracks even though I password protect it. I knew this when I chose VBA because portability is more important than protection. My question relates to…
Tony Royden
  • 169
10
votes
5 answers

How do you update copyright notices?

So now it's 2011, and as I carry on coding on our active projects it's time to update some copyright notices. eg. Copyright Widgets Ltd 2010 to Copyright Widgets Ltd 2010, 2011 My question is when do you update the copyright notices? Do you change…
James
  • 1,813
8
votes
5 answers

Can I get sued over duplicating another program's UI?

If I see something I like in another application, and create something similar from the ground up in a commercial product, could I get sued over it? Of course it would be styled to look differently, however most of the functionality would be the…
Rachel
  • 24,029
6
votes
4 answers

Can I claim the website I made when the back-end technology such as MySQL and PHP weren't invented by me?

That's just an example case. What I'm trying to point out is, how can you claim something (software/website/or any 'ontouch-able' products) as yours while at the same time you are using some existing technologies behind it? (such as database engine,…
kecebongsoft
  • 433
6
votes
1 answer

Does custom created code for a client imply copyright ownership?

I know of a potential customer that has been paying for website development work on an hourly basis for several years by several independent contractors, but has never signed an agreement as to terms or ownership for it. They just get a bill and pay…
user39741
6
votes
3 answers

Is it worth registering software with the U.S. Copyright Office?

nolo.com says: "If you want to stop someone from using or otherwise infringing on your work, you must sue the infringer in federal court. However, in order to do so, you must first have registered the copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office." Is…
jlstrecker
  • 163
3
votes
4 answers

Is using techniques from OpenSource code copyright infringement?

If I read through the source code of programs in the similar field of application like the one I am working on (e.g.: 3D car racing simulation), and find some techniques or patterns they use better than the ones I am using, and use those in my…
Klam
3
votes
2 answers

What is the proper copyright information?

I want to know what should I write in copyright part? I mean the copyright part when you right click on the executable, click properties, and click the details tab. I was developing a little tool that parses some information from output files. It's…
gunakkoc
  • 157
3
votes
4 answers

What kind of copyright laws should I be aware of when creating software?

I'm trying to build a winform so I can play a web based game and have some other little utilities on the side. I do not plan on ever selling this or even distributing it to more than a handful of people. My question is, Would I be infringing on any…
Brian Green
  • 344
2
votes
2 answers

Tracking software piracy to gauge strength of anti-piracy measures

I've been looking up this thread on how software piracy can be prevented. It's got a number of interesting suggestions ranging from using copy protection to providing free versions, and not surprisingly, none of them will satisfy you 100%. It will…
Naweed Chougle
  • 552
1
vote
1 answer

Copying and pasting is bad. What about reimplementing?

So, we have a problem. I googled to find if it was a solved problem, and found a link describing an algorithm which is just about what we need. They also included a sample implementation. Just, not a std:: or boost:: library, like I was hoping for.…
Francesco Dondi
  • 121
1
vote
1 answer

private copyright to include in the closed source code for the company

I'm wondering on what's the practice of writing in the copyright area to use for the company I work for. Earlier I was working solo but now we have hired more developers. Company is not so much concerned about the copyright stuff since they deliver…
user3610227
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