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Hello,
This doesn’t really fit any of the forum topics. So I’ll post it here as this is the most active forum. Feel free to move it if need be. (How about a general discussion forum?)
I have recently had a couple of people ask me about copyright laws, and many people seem to be out of date on this. I realize that most people on this forum probably already know this, or might be able to correct some of this for their own area, but it should serve as a good introduction to the subject for those new to the software world.
======================
The run down of modern copy-write law as I understand it after much discussion with several very experienced (and trustworthy, haha!) lawyers:
First of all, my own personal legal stuff: THIS IS JUST MY UNDERSTANDING AND MAY NOT BE CORRECT IN YOUR COUNTRY AND/OR STATE/PROVINCE. THIS IS JUST TO GIVE THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW, A QUICK RUN DOWN OF WHERE THINGS ARE AT. I ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONSULT WITH YOUR OWN LAWYER REGARDING THESE POWERFUL LAWS.
The creator is the owner of the created, unless a signed document is used to transfer the ownership over. This is only provided that you enforce your copyright from day one and without exception. (I’ll talk about this a bit later.)
The law (in Canada and in the States) says that once a creation has been committed to media, it is copyrighted. Thus since in the software industry we are working with the creation on media from the get-go, it is copyright protected immediately.
The only acceptation would be if you had only talked about the ideas and concepts, but had never put any thing on paper or otherwise. If this was the case, and someone beat you to committing if to media, then they would own the copyright.
In order to prove that you hold the copyright, what you must be able to do is prove that you did create it as well as when you created it. Thus permanent incremental backups such as single write CDs are the best proof of development.
Although the government department of copyright might still accept material to be submitted for copy protection, what they are really doing at this point is just providing a safe and accurate place to store a copy of your creation that may be recalled in a dispute. Thus it is not necessary to submit your creation to this department. BUT, like I said, it is a good place to keep a copy. What I suggest is to submit any “bread and butter” to the government, but don’t worry about the small stuff. If you do have a problem with the small stuff all you have to do is prove that you created it.
Now for the “what ifs”:
If you work for, or are contracted by an organization or company: If you developed something, even if you where paid to do so, then you are still the creator, thus still the owner. This of course can wreck havoc on unsuspecting companies. If you are a company that develops or creates anything, you actually need to have your employees sign an agreement that will relinquish there ownership and give the ownership of the creation to the company. On the other hand, if you are a contractor, and you are developing a system for a company and you wish to be able to re-sell the creation you developed during the contract, make sure the company understands that you legally own the creation. If they have a problem with this, and want to own the creation themselves, then you must negotiate (before hand) a contract that will take this into account.
Now when the above can all fall apart is when you don’t enforce your copyright. If you do not enforce your copyright to the *best of your ability* then you will have to fight the following statement in court (and loose): “The creator did not object to person(s) X using the creation, thus we assumed that we would be allowed to use it as well.” Basically what happens in this case is that you submit your creation to the public domain whether intended or not.
Thus for every person(s) that use your creation, they must have a license agreement with you. The license agreement does not give the user any ownership of the creation, it simply allows them to use it with in the guidelines set by you, and nothing more.
If you ever give someone ownership of your creation, then they may do with it whatever they like and you may not control their use of the creation.
=================
And that would be what I know of the subject,
Colin Schmidt,
[email protected]
-------------
Colin Schmidt & James Duffy, Praxis Enterprises, Canada
This doesn’t really fit any of the forum topics. So I’ll post it here as this is the most active forum. Feel free to move it if need be. (How about a general discussion forum?)
I have recently had a couple of people ask me about copyright laws, and many people seem to be out of date on this. I realize that most people on this forum probably already know this, or might be able to correct some of this for their own area, but it should serve as a good introduction to the subject for those new to the software world.
======================
The run down of modern copy-write law as I understand it after much discussion with several very experienced (and trustworthy, haha!) lawyers:
First of all, my own personal legal stuff: THIS IS JUST MY UNDERSTANDING AND MAY NOT BE CORRECT IN YOUR COUNTRY AND/OR STATE/PROVINCE. THIS IS JUST TO GIVE THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW, A QUICK RUN DOWN OF WHERE THINGS ARE AT. I ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONSULT WITH YOUR OWN LAWYER REGARDING THESE POWERFUL LAWS.
The creator is the owner of the created, unless a signed document is used to transfer the ownership over. This is only provided that you enforce your copyright from day one and without exception. (I’ll talk about this a bit later.)
The law (in Canada and in the States) says that once a creation has been committed to media, it is copyrighted. Thus since in the software industry we are working with the creation on media from the get-go, it is copyright protected immediately.
The only acceptation would be if you had only talked about the ideas and concepts, but had never put any thing on paper or otherwise. If this was the case, and someone beat you to committing if to media, then they would own the copyright.
In order to prove that you hold the copyright, what you must be able to do is prove that you did create it as well as when you created it. Thus permanent incremental backups such as single write CDs are the best proof of development.
Although the government department of copyright might still accept material to be submitted for copy protection, what they are really doing at this point is just providing a safe and accurate place to store a copy of your creation that may be recalled in a dispute. Thus it is not necessary to submit your creation to this department. BUT, like I said, it is a good place to keep a copy. What I suggest is to submit any “bread and butter” to the government, but don’t worry about the small stuff. If you do have a problem with the small stuff all you have to do is prove that you created it.
Now for the “what ifs”:
If you work for, or are contracted by an organization or company: If you developed something, even if you where paid to do so, then you are still the creator, thus still the owner. This of course can wreck havoc on unsuspecting companies. If you are a company that develops or creates anything, you actually need to have your employees sign an agreement that will relinquish there ownership and give the ownership of the creation to the company. On the other hand, if you are a contractor, and you are developing a system for a company and you wish to be able to re-sell the creation you developed during the contract, make sure the company understands that you legally own the creation. If they have a problem with this, and want to own the creation themselves, then you must negotiate (before hand) a contract that will take this into account.
Now when the above can all fall apart is when you don’t enforce your copyright. If you do not enforce your copyright to the *best of your ability* then you will have to fight the following statement in court (and loose): “The creator did not object to person(s) X using the creation, thus we assumed that we would be allowed to use it as well.” Basically what happens in this case is that you submit your creation to the public domain whether intended or not.
Thus for every person(s) that use your creation, they must have a license agreement with you. The license agreement does not give the user any ownership of the creation, it simply allows them to use it with in the guidelines set by you, and nothing more.
If you ever give someone ownership of your creation, then they may do with it whatever they like and you may not control their use of the creation.
=================
And that would be what I know of the subject,
Colin Schmidt,
[email protected]
-------------
Colin Schmidt & James Duffy, Praxis Enterprises, Canada
I don't know seriously but I'd like to speak to someone up there one of these days (IT's 100feet from me)....
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