Re: Is phpGrabComics legal?
Raul Miller wrote: On Sat, Jan 22, 2005 at 01:50:58PM +, Andres Baravalle wrote: I suppose that it would mean excluding *all* the syndicated comics (dilbert, calvin and hobbes etc.). They cover 2/3 of the comics. They will not give me an explicit permission, but I'd like to know if I'm doing anything wrong from a legal point of view. If you've asked some of the copyright holders if you're doing anything wrong, I think you can rely on them telling you if you are. no, I haven't asked at the present time. my point is that sometimes the copyright owner does not necessary know what is the legal framework. Lack of answer isn't any kind of blanket permission, but would show due dilligence (if the matter came up, later, and if you can prove that you asked). On the other hand, if anyone flames you, and they hold copyright on any web comic, it would probably be a good idea to make it trivial for your users to not view those comics. I have no objections on that. At the present time disabling a module is possible both by deleting the module or by adding a line in it to disable. As in: make this the default behavior of your system. And, while it will be possible for the users to reconfigure (or even rewrite) your code, if you leave a reference to the flames where someone undertaking that kind of change is likely to see it, they'll be able to make an informed choice about the issue (which puts a significant element of responsibility on their shoulders). I have explicit autorisation only for a couple of modules, our of 230... On a more positive note, stuff posted on the web is intended to be viewed by a wide number of people, which means that copies can be made. And it's already been established in court (for VCRs) that it's legal to use recording equipment to allow people to view copyrighted material at a time convenient for them. I believe that as long as you're acting fairly that you'll not wind up in any trouble. I will add a summary of the comments in a the faqs, in the copyright page and will insert headlines referring to it in the first page of the software and of its main site. I'll try to make a release as soon as possible and than I'll start the process of submission to debian. thank you very much for all the comments, Andres Andres Baravalle http://www.baravalle.it Gli uomini d'azione sono poco pratici. La stessa azione li allontana dalla loro meta. Paco Ignacio Taibo I -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Is phpGrabComics legal?
Hi, I am the author of a free software program called GNU phpGrabComics. It started as a very small project, and now it is growing much as user base. My server (I am on a shared hosting) is starting to have load problems, and I have to consider what to do. But, first of all, is the time for verifing with strong attention if the software itself is legal. I have had several comments and tryed to address them, but before any further step I want to be totally sure that the software is legal. Ok - the facts. phpGrabComics (available at http://www.baravalle.it/phpGrabComics/) is a software that: 1- connects to some web sites (nearly 250) 2- finds the URL of the daily comic 3- saves some of the comics for use of the webmaster only. The location where the comics are saved is not published (there are no links to the comics - but they are neither protected, at the present time; a user that knows phpGrabComics code may access the comics). 4- publishes some information: a- a RSS file with the URL of the daily comic b- a small thumbnail of the daily comic c- a XML file similar to the RSS one, with informations on the HTTP headers required to download the comics phpGrabComics clients get the RSS file or the XML file from a phpGrabComics site and then can download the comics. pyGrabComics (in python) and phpGrabComics command line (in php) do pretty much the same and allow to download comics from the command line. phpGrabComics for nuke parses the RSS and allows to add comics to phpNuke sites. I'm not sure: -if it is legal that the directory where phpGrabComics saves comics is accessible to the public, even if there is no link at all to the comics (but I know of web sites that are linking to the comics that are in the directory) -if are legal my RSS (http://www.baravalle.it/phpGrabComics/rss_feeds.php) and my XML (http://www.baravalle.it/phpGrabComics/webcomics.xml) -if it is legal to distribute the phpNuke module. My understanding is that in many cases the use of the phpNuke module would not be legal, if it is used to publish the comics. I am not using the module in my site. -if the icons used in phpGrabComics are legal. Every comic has a small icon. In my home page is written that: All comics are copyright of respective owners, and redistribution of the comics is, for most comics and in most circumstances, not permitted. phpGrabComics is intended for personal use only. Hope someone can give me some suggestions. Thanks in advance. Andres PS: I have started to package phpGrabComics but, again, before submitting it to Debian, I want to be sure that this is legal, and to find what to do to make it legal if it is not. Andres Baravalle http://www.baravalle.it Gli uomini d'azione sono poco pratici. La stessa azione li allontana dalla loro meta. Paco Ignacio Taibo I -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of unsubscribe. Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
