Excel Templates and VBA copying or stealing?

Deco99

Hi, short one, taking code from the likes of Ron de bruin website is fine I would assume. Is taking templates of dashboards and other types of template from similar sites and amending for your own purpose considered fine? I assume seems they are free it's ok although I would be removing the links and mention of where it came from?

Baz_

Deco99 wrote: »

I assume seems they are free it's ok although I would be removing the links and mention of where it came from?

I don't know to whom you are referring as the source, but this last bit, if handled incorrectly, could see you landed in court fighting some intellectual property related case.

Attribution can be the most important part of copying code from someone else. Some don't mind the free copying and use of code, it will be depend on the software licence that it is published under whether or not that use should include a reference to the original author. I believe most authors of code will want their copied code attributed back to them.

Again I don't know who you are referring to, but it's up to you as the code copier to satisfy yourself as to the level of attribution required, on your head be it if you get it wrong.

If it is unclear from the source as to what licence it is published under I would go as far as emailing the author to ensure that I had permission and what level of attribution they want.

Deco99

Baz_ wrote: »

I don't know to whom you are referring as the source, but this last bit, if handled incorrectly, could see you landed in court fighting some intellectual property related case.

Attribution can be the most important part of copying code from someone else. Some don't mind the free copying and use of code, it will be depend on the software licence that it is published under whether or not that use should include a reference to the original author. I believe most authors of code will want their copied code attributed back to them.

Again I don't know who you are referring to, but it's up to you as the code copier to satisfy yourself as to the level of attribution required, on your head be it if you get it wrong.

If it is unclear from the source as to what licence it is published under I would go as far as emailing the author to ensure that I had permission and what level of attribution they want.

This was the template. I've substantially changed it to suit my needs but it's definitely the starting point

https://chandoo.org/wp/employee-vacations-tracker-dashboard/

Doesn't it just get tricky if you are basically reselling someone's work? I am obviously not a lawyer but usually, if it's up there for free, you can use it in your business. Repackaging it, unless the licensing or terms allow it, is likely not ok.


Your link in my opinion is obviously meant for people to use in their business as no regular person would have need for it.

Deco99

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Doesn't it just get tricky if you are basically reselling someone's work? I am obviously not a lawyer but usually, if it's up there for free, you can use it in your business. Repackaging it, unless the licensing or terms allow it, is likely not ok.


Your link in my opinion is obviously meant for people to use in their business as no regular person would have need for it.

Sorry, I'm a little unclear as to what your saying. Is taking
It and amending for my business ok but trying to sell it on again as my own is wrong?

Deco99

Deco99 wrote: »

Sorry, I'm a little unclear as to what your saying. Is taking
It and amending for my business ok but trying to sell it on again as my own is wrong?

In my non-legal opinion, using it is fine. Adapting it is fine. Creating a product that sells that work is not fine.

What I mean by that last part is that creating a piece of software that relies on it is ok. It's part of your product. The creator put it in the public domain. But you can't repackage the same thing and resell it as an alternative to it.

I've had this with major sources of dictionary content and images. They gave me free API access because it's educational software, but it's clearly stated that if I use that content in any way that would constitute reselling what they provide, I'm screwed.


This is all uninformed opinion. Just my current grasp of legalities.

Baz_

Best way to find out, email the original author.

croo

From the end of the example page linked

© 2019 All rights reserved

So I would think; it's not okay to distribute a copy of the work, but to use the copy Chandoo has distributed to you via his website would be fine.

With all the usual caveats that I'm not offering legal advice... I've just read a lot of "open source" license agreements.

bpmurray

You didn't look very hard! On https://chandoo.org/wp/policies/ it says:


Content Copyright Policy:
The content on Chandoo.org is copyrighted. But the ideas are not.

You are free to use the content (and downloadable excel files) for any non-commercial purpose as long as you attribute the original authors / owners. Some guidelines about the content copyright:

• You can not copy paste Chandoo.org content in your web site, blog or news letters. You can however, use excerpts.
• You can not sell the content on Chandoo.org or use it as part of your print publications.
• The downloads provided here come with out any warranty and provided as is. They are for learning purposes only.
• You are free to distribute the downloaded documents with or without altering the content, but always leave the attribution links on.
• If you are planning to monetize something on this site, first get in touch with me: chandoo.d @ gmail.com
• When in doubt, get in touch with me.

So if you want to sell your derived thing, you need to have a chat with him about doing so - he probably (not unreasonably) wants a cut of your sales.

Deco99

bpmurray wrote: »

You didn't look very hard! On https://chandoo.org/wp/policies/ it says:


Content Copyright Policy:
The content on Chandoo.org is copyrighted. But the ideas are not.

You are free to use the content (and downloadable excel files) for any non-commercial purpose as long as you attribute the original authors / owners. Some guidelines about the content copyright:

• You can not copy paste Chandoo.org content in your web site, blog or news letters. You can however, use excerpts.
• You can not sell the content on Chandoo.org or use it as part of your print publications.
• The downloads provided here come with out any warranty and provided as is. They are for learning purposes only.
• You are free to distribute the downloaded documents with or without altering the content, but always leave the attribution links on.
• If you are planning to monetize something on this site, first get in touch with me: chandoo.d @ gmail.com
• When in doubt, get in touch with me.

So if you want to sell your derived thing, you need to have a chat with him about doing so - he probably (not unreasonably) wants a cut of your sales.

I didn't look at all as I didn't know what to look out for. Wouldn't be monetising it anyway. I'm ok anyway as I've used it as the idea rather than actual file... Learning purposes as it states.