On January 28, 2009 at 00:45, tweetymp4 said...
Everything that is "licensed" music, movies, software,
books etc. Is protected by by copyright and licensing
agreements etc. If the cherished intellectual property
of an installer is not protected by patent, copyright
or license agreement it belongs to the customer.
In short, if it's not specifically stipulated in a contract
the customer owns it. If there is not a copyright on
the user interface, you're screwed.
I personally feel that it all belongs to the customer,
once he pays of course. I would never have the audacity
to say or do otherwise.
I can certainly see both sides of the argument on this one but in copyright law there is something known as 'work for hire', where the author of a song, book, program, etc...is given a one-off fee for his/her work and all rights are transferred to whomever hires them. This is essentially the way I see this scenario...
A person that writes a song didn't 'create' the notes or chords used; an artist didn't 'create' the colours; and a writer doesn't 'create' the letters or words used...they just arrange them in a certain order to create a bigger picture. So I can't really support the module argument.
Again, though, there are some good arguments on both sides..particularly since there is no tactile transfer of property required like a disc or print-out, etc.
