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You are answering a big question of mine: "If I launch a PAAS product, am I allowed to copy Heroku's terms of use?". Seems like it's covered by copyright but it
by tajen 10y ago
You are answering a big question of mine: "If I launch a PAAS product, am I allowed to copy Heroku's terms of use?". Seems like it's covered by copyright but it's IP-free zone, although "IANAL"...
On the other hand, it would be a headache if contracts were covered by copyright: If your competitor adds a clause to their contract, can you add the same clause if it's covered by copyright, or are you forever banned from adding this clause? Would someone file a patent on "Using contracts to limit the liability against customers", for example?
- yellowapple 10y agoI've had a similar question about the validity of free software licenses that only permit verbatim redistribution, and whether it's possible to use ideas from such a license in another license. The idea of a license being under a license just seems alien to me.
- matthewmcg 10y agoTwo points: First, even if you are able to borrow functional language from a contract without infringing someone's copyright, that doesn't make it a good idea. Heroku's terms were written for them and their specific business risks, governing law, etc. Your own PaaS business may have different requirements. And copying wholesale probably is infringement. Second, by "IP free zone," I'm talking about people's attitudes and behavior towards the materials they borrow from--that certainly doesn't express a legal conclusion about it or mean what they are doing is not infringement.
- greglindahl 10y agoIf you look at website Terms of Service etc., you'll see that there's huge amounts of copying between firms which compete with each other.