Source code posted on forum

Odaise Gaelach

Just something that I'd been wondering about recently...

Suppose a company is developing a piece of software and one of their coders is having problems with implementing a particular data structure. The coder posts a request for help on an internet forum and doesn't mention that it's for a commercial product for a company. Someone posts up the source code for a full implementation of the data structure which they wrote themselves without any license or provisio. The original coder takes the code verbatim and includes it in the company project.

Now suppose that in a separate company another coder is having problems with the same data structure. The coder search the web and find the forum post with the implementation, and lift the code verbatim and include it in the source code for their product.

My main question is: does the person that wrote the implementation still have ownership of the source code? Given that they didn't know that their code would be used in a commercial product, can they take legal action against either or both of the companies for using their code without permission?

Zambia

From my recollection of IT law I would say not. Once the code was posted up online without any notice of copyright. Its there for use, I know several things I worked on where a broth of internet copy and Pastes.

I would imagine the person who posted anything like that would be in some trouble for releasing anything of a sensitive nature. Anywhere I worked had full right to anything I produced.

It would also depend what was the piece of software and what is the innovative element I suppose.

Interesting piont

Reloc8

Can you say what jurisdiction you're talking about Zambia ?

If the software incorporates an 'original database' its covered by the Copyright & Related Rights Act 2000 as amended, which does not require a 'notice of copyright' to be enforced where unauthorised use is discovered.

Equally if it doesn't incorporate an original database (as defined in the act) then its not covered by the Act and copyright has more or less nothing to do with it.

If that is the case then it is likely that the question of use by another will be resolved by whether it is a confidential/trade secret of the employer who's employee stuck it up on line. If so that person can prevent unauthorised use.

There is no such thing as IT law.

Zambia

Reloc8 wrote: »

Can you say what jurisdiction you're talking about Zambia ?

My answer was fairly general so any country really.

Reloc8 wrote: »

There is no such thing as IT law.

It was a fairly interesting component of my degree.It covered such items as copyright infringement etc. Just like you mentioned.

dvpower

If someone publishes source code on the internet without specifying any licencing agreements then I'd say its fair to assume that they are giving away the information without restriction.

Maybe if the original coder didn't have the right to publish it in the first place, it might cause a problem (could it be treated like stolen goods?).

Reloc8

Zambia232 wrote: »

It was a fairly interesting component of my degree.It covered such items as copyright infringement etc. Just like you mentioned.

There is often a module of that title including in academic courses, generally covering a whole load of stuff which is encountered when working in the IT area. In this instance what we are talking about is intellectual property law. As regards jurisdiction eh it does matter.

dvpower wrote: »

If someone publishes source code on the internet without specifying any licencing agreements then I'd say its fair to assume that they are giving away the information without restriction.

Maybe if the original coder didn't have the right to publish it in the first place, it might cause a problem (could it be treated like stolen goods?).

That's more or less the point. If the original coder didn't have the right to publish it they could be sued by their employer for damages in contract law. That however would not prevent third party useage unless the code was considered a trade secret of sorts.

Zambia

Reloc8 wrote: »

There is often a module of that title including in academic courses, generally covering a whole load of stuff which is encountered when working in the IT area. In this instance what we are talking about is intellectual property law. As regards jurisdiction eh it does matter.

So IT law does exist. Thats the module I took.

Seriously did I crap in your cornflakes this morning?

Odaise Gaelach

dvpower wrote: »

Maybe if the original coder didn't have the right to publish it in the first place, it might cause a problem (could it be treated like stolen goods?).

For the sake of this example, assume that the person who posted up the source code wrote it themselves in their spare time and on their own computer. They aren't affiliated with any company or group.

Reloc8

Need to see their contract of employment. Generally employers take ownership for anything constituting work product, which is anything which the employee is employed to do whether done in free time or otherwise.

If you were employed as a gardener and wrote a software programme, its probably yours (maybe not a gardening software programme). If you were employed as a programmer and wrote a software programme its quite likely to be vested in your employer subject to exceptions on a case by case basis.