Stealing Code
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- 26 Responses
- SteveZissou0
Steal a grannies handbag, to offset it
- sublocked0
So...someone took a bit of JS you wrote, and you're trying to sue them? hahahahah.......
- lifeindev0
If you wrote it yes you own it and automatically have a copyright on it (if you are in the US, i'm not familiar with copyright law elsewhere). Someone can't use it unless it falls under fair use of course (eg- if it was being used as a parody of your work, that's totally legit).
Otherwise you can send a cease and desist and/or sue them. Suing them is really expensive, and not going to be worth it. You would spend a LOT of money do this, and you wouldn't get anything in return. The only way you could get $$$ out of it is if their actions were directly costing you $$$.
About all you can do is:
A. politely tell them to remove the code, or give you credit for it
B. tell them they're assholes
- oddslob0
Thanks everyone.
- fyoucher10
If it's something that's unique and it's being commercially used (i.e. the code is being specifically used to generate some type of 'software' or a site that generates revenue from the idea itself) and if somebody uses that code without your permission to make money from it (public code or not), I'm almost positive you can make a case for something like that.
If we're talking about a simple website (HTML/Javascript), it probably has been done many times before in some sort of way or the other. Nothing you can really do 'cept sit back and be flattered.
But if it's really bugging you 'that' bad, maybe see a copyright lawyer and see what they say. They'll know best.
- registe0
someone else read it to see if it's relevant
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/c…
- oddslob0
@VikingKingEleven,
Thats what I was thinking too, but technically wouldnt a well designed css / html template be intellectual property as well.?Like what @registe sez...
- registe0
i'm sure with enough "care" any framework could be torn apart into the components necessary for a wordpress rework
that said, you could likely copyright your code published or not. you may have to classify your work as a work of fact, fiction, or technical schematic to patent it. (costing $1,000s working with a patent lawyer)
presuming that's occurred, you'll now need to invest financially into a system or time or both to begin searching out offenders and proceeding legally. not unlike you see done by stock photo companies off searching the web for their image code blocks.
if you wanted to get into this business it seems pretty open, but as html is published under particular copyrights, maybe our use agreement to code with it prevents us from protecting it so aggressively
- ukit0
Like people said it would be a tough case to prove, and probably no one really bothered before.
Having said that, there's nothing inherently "uncopyrightable" about HTML or any other kind of code or markup like blitznutty tried to claim above. It all adds up to your intellectual property, and the similarity of the code would be a step towards proving that.
- oddslob0
Im saying what if the visual output is different, but the code that makes up that visual output is essentially the same (say in the case of a javascript game where the sprites/music/gameplay was changed but the underlying engine stayed the same)
- thats a intellectual property violation/ The 'engine' is what makes it goVikingKingEleven
- registe0
due to the nature of the code, you could code two sites completely different and have the same visual output.
ie file names, code structure, fle locations, methods of code consolidation, even image file size, etc.
example:
give the same brief to 2 psd to xhtml companies and see what you get back. both would likely be wholly different form what i'd make if given the same ps. all would display online within the prearranged confinements of the html structure though.
- BattleAxe0
did you have a end user agreement on your site? if not then start with that
- sureshot0
just call the police.
- ukit0
"html is markup - which means you can't copyright it b/c you're simply using it to hold (markup) your data"
Not really true. Software developers do copyright code, and there's nothing really special about HTML in this regard. It's probably more the case that the issue has never been pursued that far.
- SteveJobs0
yet, another reason why content is king. if the success of your site is hinged off of some client-side trickery, you need to re-think your business model.
- oddslob0
lol
- bliznutty0
html is markup - which means you can't copyright it b/c you're simply using it to hold (markup) your data
any scripting you do that might contain creativity or some level of effort you would like to protect - you can easily not expose this code to the public (if you do it's your fault) - if you don't expose it and you're hacked in order to obtain it then YES you do have legal issues you could pursue.. this shouldn't be an issue
- ukit0
You may wish to refer to the Supreme Court case "ɥsɐq v. Rest of Internet" (2011)
- oddslob0
thanks for the input. 'talk to a lawyer' is prolly the best advice i guess.