On the subject of Copyright...
by Michel H. van Baalen

As a result of demand for more information on this subject, I have written this generalized article which should not be treated as a legal opinion; if you need a legal opinion, please consult your Attorney

What is Copyright apart from a little © sign and the word Copyright?

The most important point to remember is that everything that is published, anywhere and by any means, is automatically Copyrighted to the person that created the work! This includes an essay, a newspaper article, a graphic, a computer programme, a book etc...

While you may think that this is harsh and unfair, it is actually a two-way street as everything that you create and put on your web site is also automatically copyrighted to yourself - this presumes of course that your site consists of original material in its make up, such as the text you used, the images you created, the javascript that you wrote, etc...

Yes, you say, all the work is mine, except for the javascript that I borrowed, and the images which I changed...

Let's read that last sentence again, shall we?

If you borrowed someone's javascript, did you first obtain permission or was it freeware? If it was not freeware and you did not obtain permission then you have basically stolen someone else's work...

Now the graphic that makes your web site look so cool.

You borrowed that from another site but you did change the colour and the size! The fact that you took this graphic from somewhere else is already an infringement on the right of another party! That is, unless the site that you took it from gave you express written permission to use it as you see fit!

The fact that you altered the graphic to make it your own, does not change anything - if nothing else your changing the original image actually makes the theft worse in the eyes of the law!

Oh, but I have placed a Copyright notice to strengthen my claim to own everything within my site - that is great, it is the right thing to do but, if you have included some freeware graphics or anything else that is free, then your notice should also include the fact that some of the contents actually belong to someone else who should also be named.

Okay, most of the preceeding is pretty much self-explanatory, or is it?

You will be surprised by the number of people who think that because it is available on the internet, that it can simply be taken...

How many times have you heard lines like "but I am new, I know nothing yet and if I cannot take it then I cannot create my site" - Well, in that case the person concerned will be limited to going to freeware sites to collect whatever material is required.

Or, "yes, I know that the graphics belong to Disney but I have put in a notice that states they are Copyrighted to Walt Disney, so I am okay" - No, he or she is not okay as you need written permission form the Copyright owners - It is not sufficient to just put up a notice, you have to have written permission.

By the way, the aforesaid does not only apply to the contents of your web site but also to software programmes that you may download.

It it states that you have 30 days free trial after which you must register the software (and pay for it) or desist in your usage of the said software, then that is what it means... If you do not pay for the software on due date then you will be committing a felony every single time that you use such software!

Ah, you say, no-one will ever know! True maybe, but YOU know this! There is also the moral issue here as if you make one exception, then how many more will you make before you start ripping people off left right and centre?

And what about the fact that you may have loaded the software on a second computer?

But I paid for the software you might well say. Yes, you did pay for the software but you do not own it as ownership is retained by the writer in most cases! You have (usually) paid for the right to use that software on one single computer - another software license purchase is needed for a second or subsequent computer.

Then there is the common excuse such as "but I am poor and cannot afford to buy this" - we are all the same boat and have to save up and make sacrifices before we can get what we want in life!

Being poor is no excuse to steal some else's work.

You need to remember that it can take days to perfect that little graphic, weeks to get that javascript just right and months to write a software application!

No matter which way you equate it, taking something without permission or without paying for it is THEFT - doing so will result in your having stolen someone else property.

If you still have some differing thoughts on this matter think about the consequences of your actions should you be caught; a minimum of $500 fine ranging up to 5 years in jail, depending on the country you live in and the circumstances!