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I feel like this argument could be made more strongly than "You shouldn't copy code without the license because...don't copy code without the license!" I under
by cgs1019 15y ago
I feel like this argument could be made more strongly than "You shouldn't copy code without the license because...don't copy code without the license!"
I under-appreciated licenses for a very long time and only recently realized the very real risk of writing some code, posting it to github without any licensing, it being picked up by some commercial organization, and then them licensing it and (possibly, later) taking action against you for using their code without a license (ha!).
Anyway, I appreciate the spirit of the post, but it didn't make much of an argument...
Edit: I guess he also argues that it might upset the code's author to copy their code without attribution (totally possible), which would lead to their writing less open source code (seemingly less likely). I think the risk of commercialization of your code is more salient, though.
- raphman 15y agoI under-appreciated licenses for a very long time and only recently realized the very real risk of writing some code, posting it to github without any licensing, it being picked up by some commercial organization, and then them licensing it and (possibly, later) taking action against you for using their code without a license (ha!). I am not completely sure about US copyright law. However, at least in the European Union, you are the sole owner of your code as soon as you write it. Therefore, anyone putting their license on your code would be violating your author rights.
- Cushman 15y agoYou do, under the law, implicitly own the copyright to everything you create. This will not inherently protect you from costly lawsuits requiring you to prove that you do, however.
- true_religion 15y agoNothing protects you from lawsuits. I could right now sue you for slander for some comment you never made, and I fabricated evidence for. That would just make me unethical, and you can't protect against that.
- Cushman 15y agoThat may be true in the abstract, but having a registered copyright does give you additional protections that could make it easier to dismiss a suit.
- true_religion 15y agoHow is that a real risk? If they're so unethical to try and sue you for using code they just found on the internets without a licence, they're just as likely to steal your code even if it had an MIT licence and claim you were the original thief.
- Someone 15y agoIt does not require outright malice to have a company think code they have in their repository is theirs, and you having the same code must be stolen; it can just be a matter of sloppy attribution plus some 'to protect our interests, we have to do what everyone else does'. Adding licensing info to every file makes it less likely that that sloppy attribution will take place.
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- deleted 15y ago[deleted]