Path: csiph.com!x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net!usenet.pasdenom.info!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Novice Newsgroups: comp.lang.java.programmer Subject: "Borrowing" code Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:50:51 +0000 (UTC) Organization: Your Company Lines: 41 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: iD3daMmo7WQHmRS5dsV5WQ.user.speranza.aioe.org X-Complaints-To: abuse@aioe.org User-Agent: Xnews/5.04.25 X-Antivirus-Status: Clean X-Notice: Filtered by postfilter v. 0.8.2 X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 120216-0, 2012-02-16), Outbound message Xref: x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net comp.lang.java.programmer:12065 I'm curious to know the legalities involved in "borrowing" code without paying for it. Let me clarify. Let's say that I find some code snippets or even entire classes, displayed on websites and that it would save me time and money to use those classes in my own projects. This web site, www.java2s.com, is just one of many such web sites on the Internet, as is the Java Tutorial at the Oracle website. Assuming I make no claim that I am the author (by leaving the @author Javadoc tag empty), am I "stealing" this code? What if I cite the author name in the @author tag (or the URL of the webpage in a comment if the author's name isn't present in the code)? Or would I have to get written permission of the author or website to use the code? Or even obtain a licence before I can use the code? Code published in web pages or newsgroup posts "feels" as if it should be in the public domain but I think that's just wishful thinking on my part. Given that you can look at it without paying anyone for that privilege, and copy it into your own IDE and try it, etc. it feels as if it is there to be used. But as I understand it, those who create written works, whether books or programs, are their owners (unless in the employ of others) and retain copyright on this work, a copyright that typically lasts for the developer's life plus 70 years. If copyright does apply to all these snippets and example classes, would I be able to bypass copyright by modifying the code in some small way - maybe just with some comments or different variable names - or would that be the equivalent of painting a stolen car: it doesn't negate the fact that it's stolen and just tries to make it less obvious? I've been banging my head against a wall for a while on a couple of classes my project needs and I have found two perfectly good classes that meet my needs so I'd like to use them rather than put still more time into making my own classes work satisfactorily. I'd like to figure out what I can do to use the clases I found without having to look over my shoulder (or fight my conscience) on the question of "stealing" this code. -- Novice