Can you copyright HTML Source Code?
- Thread Starter deboorn
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Thanks a lot for your comments.deboorn said:
From my understanding you can have a copyright over some HTML coding but it would have to be a more complex example, not a simple one. The real copyright issues come into play when you are dealing with images, look and feel, etc. Generally, I might send a letter regarding copyright infringement of a web site if virtually every parameter and color of a complex design just happened to be the same. It's a tough area but you can guess pretty easily where the "gray areas" are.
Kevin_Fields
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I do have some experience with this, being a web designer, and can offer my opinion. 
Any code that you personally write, or obtain permission to use from another individual who wrote code, is automatically covered under copyright and assigned to you, just like writing a book, a letter, or a post online.
Simply saving such material to your hard drive is NOT a violation of copyright law, since your web browser automatically does that before displaying the result of the code to you, and is generally considered fair use. It is nearlly technically impossible for this NOT to happen, and thus is considered acceptable.
Doing something with it is another matter and opens up a whole can of worms. If you were to just re-post the code, unaltered, then quite possibly you are violating another individual's copyright. To have that code also render output to the web browser could violate even more rights.
Of course a lot of that actually depends on what the code IS. It would be a nearly impossible case to argue that using common HTML tags in a very common way constitutes a copyright infringement. However if that code is used to output in such a way that, say, it closely or exactly resembles the look of another site that is unique and identifiable (say, eBay, Amazon, Slashdot) then you could be stepping into problems there. Another example that was a big problem a few years ago would be examining the source code that makes up the way a web site's navigation menu operates. Looking at the code and using it to create your own code isn't infringing, however ripping that code and posting it verbatim would be, if the result is arguably unique.
Any code that you personally write, or obtain permission to use from another individual who wrote code, is automatically covered under copyright and assigned to you, just like writing a book, a letter, or a post online.
Simply saving such material to your hard drive is NOT a violation of copyright law, since your web browser automatically does that before displaying the result of the code to you, and is generally considered fair use. It is nearlly technically impossible for this NOT to happen, and thus is considered acceptable.
Doing something with it is another matter and opens up a whole can of worms. If you were to just re-post the code, unaltered, then quite possibly you are violating another individual's copyright. To have that code also render output to the web browser could violate even more rights.
Of course a lot of that actually depends on what the code IS. It would be a nearly impossible case to argue that using common HTML tags in a very common way constitutes a copyright infringement. However if that code is used to output in such a way that, say, it closely or exactly resembles the look of another site that is unique and identifiable (say, eBay, Amazon, Slashdot) then you could be stepping into problems there. Another example that was a big problem a few years ago would be examining the source code that makes up the way a web site's navigation menu operates. Looking at the code and using it to create your own code isn't infringing, however ripping that code and posting it verbatim would be, if the result is arguably unique.
kevin got it pretty much right. copyright is a "copy right," or a right to copy. It is complex, but basically, do not "copy" other people's code. This means, do not post an exact "copy" of the code. If you independently come up with code that is the same as someone else's code, then you have not violated copyright, since you have not copied. You both own a copyright in that code. If you want to use someone else's code, just use it as a base for your own code, or get written consent from the original writer.
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