Open Source Ethics: Code Stealing
June 9, 2007 - 1:44pm
Fantastic Post
Hey NP...
this is a fantastic post! We like it so much, in fact, that we turned it into our opening segment on an upcoming podcast (the episode which will launch Monday June 18). We spend a good 10 minutes talking about it...thanks for the topic starter!
You'll have to wait for our thoughts until then, but I'd love to see what other people think of this post...please share your ideas on this!
Thanks again, NP....
-Rob Feature
Geeks and God Co-Host
www.bobchristenson.com
July 2, 2007 - 11:53am
Intellectual Copyright
Hey Rob & Matt,
I finally heard this podcast; I thought you addressed the topic well. Thanks! Intellectual copyright is such a sticky issue, especially in web design (where the vast majority of sites simply variants of a few basic layouts). Striving to take the highroad is best, especially when you consider how conflicted the judicial system has been on this issue. Back in November 2006 Kim Taylor Reece sued Leialoha Colucci for copyright infringement alleging her stained glass piece was based on his photograph. To make matters more sticky, the image in question is of a dancer performing the ike motion, a traditional hula move. (To his credit, the forms are remarkably similar.) See it here. Bringing matters closer to home, yesterday I was sitting in church and saw a Getty Images watermark in the PowerPoint presentation. Think I need to send the pastor an e-mail…
Blessings!
-NP
Hey all,
OK, so I’m new to Drupal and really digging the whole open source framework and GPL license. I feel as if I am “standing on the shoulders of giants.” Little ‘ole me can create dynamic pages with functionality I could never dream of developing independently. I also understand that anything I create is open game for someone else to come along and expand upon for their use. It seems like a great system to me.
What about HTML and CSS; that’s open source, isn’t it? So, what’s ethical usage of someone else's code?
I routinely ask my clients to suggest a few existing sites they like the look of. I’ll visit them and try to find some common denominators. I'm not trying to copy those sites, but it does give me a look to shoot for. I then build my own code from scratch. I think this practice is fairly common and I see it as “inspiration,” not “stealing.“
The next step up the ladder is when I visit sites and notice functionality or design elements I’ve not seen before. Sometimes I’ll view the source and try to figure out how something is done. I've learned a lot doing this. I have no ethical qualms about this, seeing it as “education“.
When I’m in the code, It’s not all that uncommon to see some comments setting off a section, usually a front-end script, which offers some cool functionality. Often there is a note which says free distribution is allowed as long as the copyright notice and url are left in place. What if I like some element of the functionality, but think I can improve upon it? How much does code need to be changed before it is no longer the original author’s work?
The logical conclusion is…why not copy and paste the entire site? In the G&G Drupal series Rob & Matt explained how simple it is to convert my old static site to a new dynamic Drupal site. I’ve not attempted it, but their explanation made it sound fairly straightforward. If I can update my site, I can update someone else’s. It is, after all, open source, no?
Personally, I’ve always drawn the line at the second stage. But I wonder, what liscense covers (X)HTML/CSS/web-based scripting and programming? Does a sight copyright simply cover content or also the code behiend it? What is legal? What is ethical? What do you think?
Blessings!
NP