Originally Posted by skyraker
As Cairenn said, you are bound to have something look similar to something in another addon simply because it is the only way to do it. But, to me, if I found a simpler way to do something in another addon, I at least want to give them some credit.
|
True, and "means of access" are not copyrightable. If there's a provided method to access a function, that's the way it's done and thus, no creativity is involved in doing it. Not creative => not copyrightable. Now, if someone figures out a really clever non-standard access method, it's probably still copyrightable.
Similarity is one reason I very rarely look at anyone else's code. Part of the entertainment for me is coding, not copying. If I do run into a roadblock and see someone else has solved the issue, I might ask how and failing to figure it out, I might look. And the first thing I'll look at is the usage rights... if someone demands a big splash screen with their name on your program, or basically says not to copy or distribute it, I'll look elsewhere.
I support and will abide by the GPL and include things like "marked portions of this code are copyright by so-and-so". If it was placed in the public domain, I rarely list credit by name, but will list where it was found. PD work (that was legitimately put in the public domain -- not stolen code and falsely placed in PD) is freely usable with no encumbrances whatsoever, including any requirement to list author. (The only limit to PD work might be sending "munitions" to unfriendly countries.... :-)