while the last couple of posts I think unfairly targeted Grey, they did bring up an important topic that I think we should be more familiar with. I'd like the conversation to continue and what I think would be really helpful are links to knowledgeable arguments or judgments on software copyright.
I'd like to start off with my view on the subject, so lets begin with the purpose of these rights(copyrights and patents) as per the US. many people are under the false impression that the government establishes these rights for the protection or profit of the author. while indirectly this seems to be the case, the real reason is to stimulate development and innovation in the sciences and arts. this is very important because it's easy to go too far and start inhibiting this progress instead. remember, these rights are given or taken away as with patents, by our government. they are government sponsored monopolies that the public is willing to tolerate for the benefit of the country. you have no inherent right to intellectual property.
so what does this mean and how do we or more importantly, the courts apply this to software?
on the software front, my research over the years says that it would be VERY difficult to claim a copyright for the source of a function the you freely disclosed in a public forum. there are a number of reasons for this; one of the primary purposes of a public forum such as this one is directly for the promotion of knowledge and learning. in addition, much of this code is specifically posted to answer a question with the understanding that people will actually use it. these are examples of fair use. with that being said, these and other reasons are not always very cut and dry... if someone posted an entire program they would have a better chance of defending against fair use. another fair use example is "effect on the market".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_copyright
algorithms are not copyrightable (though currently they are patentable), so a simple function posted on these forums might not be copyrightable at all. it's certainly the case that any basic expression of an idea or the only expression of the idea are not copyrightable.
personally, I find it a little funny that so many programmers want "their" individual functions credited. I wonder how many times they've used a function directly out of some programming text book without crediting it? or for that matter, any blitz program they've written and failed to acknowledge Mark... I sometimes put little blurbs next the functions that I've copy and pasted from these forums, but I certainly don't do that most of the time. I expect no credit when people use my "original" code posted here. but sure, it's nice when I see it.
this is definitely an important topic and it deserves a serious discussion.
here's a good link
http://www.open-spaces.com/article-v2n1-loren.php
I'd like to start off with my view on the subject, so lets begin with the purpose of these rights(copyrights and patents) as per the US. many people are under the false impression that the government establishes these rights for the protection or profit of the author. while indirectly this seems to be the case, the real reason is to stimulate development and innovation in the sciences and arts. this is very important because it's easy to go too far and start inhibiting this progress instead. remember, these rights are given or taken away as with patents, by our government. they are government sponsored monopolies that the public is willing to tolerate for the benefit of the country. you have no inherent right to intellectual property.
so what does this mean and how do we or more importantly, the courts apply this to software?
on the software front, my research over the years says that it would be VERY difficult to claim a copyright for the source of a function the you freely disclosed in a public forum. there are a number of reasons for this; one of the primary purposes of a public forum such as this one is directly for the promotion of knowledge and learning. in addition, much of this code is specifically posted to answer a question with the understanding that people will actually use it. these are examples of fair use. with that being said, these and other reasons are not always very cut and dry... if someone posted an entire program they would have a better chance of defending against fair use. another fair use example is "effect on the market".
A court may not find fair use if an infringing work would take the place of the original work in the market. But the court notes that the Copyright Act was not intended to create monopolies, it was intended to foster creativity. Thus, the court finds that Accolade’s largely original work is merely an acceptable market competitor of Sega’s work. While natural market competition might have a negative financial effect on Sega, the court found that the benefit to consumers compelled a finding that the fourth factor weighed in Accolade’s favor. Therefore, the court found that Accolade had engaged in fair use.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_copyright
algorithms are not copyrightable (though currently they are patentable), so a simple function posted on these forums might not be copyrightable at all. it's certainly the case that any basic expression of an idea or the only expression of the idea are not copyrightable.
personally, I find it a little funny that so many programmers want "their" individual functions credited. I wonder how many times they've used a function directly out of some programming text book without crediting it? or for that matter, any blitz program they've written and failed to acknowledge Mark... I sometimes put little blurbs next the functions that I've copy and pasted from these forums, but I certainly don't do that most of the time. I expect no credit when people use my "original" code posted here. but sure, it's nice when I see it.
this is definitely an important topic and it deserves a serious discussion.
here's a good link
http://www.open-spaces.com/article-v2n1-loren.php