Questions tagged [copyright]
For questions about the property right statutorily granted to creative works. Please see the tag wiki and FAQ before asking the question.
3,003
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How can an inherited copyright be released under a Creative Commons license?
Alice created a work and died without publishing it. Bob and Charlie jointly inherited the copyright. Bob wants to release it under a Creative Commons license without involving Charlie. Can he do this?...
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4
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140
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Can I sneak around my copyleft obligations with adhesion contracts?
Some licenses, like the GPL, mandate that I license derivative works under the same license and not a more restrictive license. I believe this is called "copyleft".
But say I want to have ...
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1
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Can I legally change my name to "Darth Misogynus", or would I get sued by Disney?
Obviously, Darth comes from Star Wars, which is currently owned by Disney. Misogynus is an expression of my ideological beliefs. If I legally change my name to "Darth Misogynus", will I get ...
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121
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Can I send someone an email that they are not licensed to download or copy?
This answer suggests that emails usually come with an implied license to do things like download them to your computer, copy them from your old server to a new replacement server, etc.
What if I sent ...
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1
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77
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What are the "fair use" implications of using someone's personal story in a political campaign without their permission?
After the State of the Union address, Senator Katie Britt told a story about a woman's being (sex) "trafficked" in a rebuttal. Let's say that the facts were accurate in isolation, but it had ...
8
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Is it legal to sell emails?
Recently a client offered to buy the emails I had received prior to a specific date: not just addresses, but the actual messages.
The client did not specifically ask for private or business ...
0
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2
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52
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Legality of AI vocals from royalty-free music
I'm a fairly new music producer, and one of the inherent problems with it is that it means you have to do all the work yourself: sound design, any vocals, mixing, and mastering. There's quite a few ...
0
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1
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75
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Rights as co-heir of book copyright
My grandfather, an academic, wrote several books which were published here in the US by a major publisher, and at least one book published by his university press. All these books have long been out ...
18
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What are the consequences that European standards being cited in law must be publicly accessible, but are protected by copyright?
In a jugdgment published this week, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on a complaint that some technical norms set as European Standards by a Standards Organisation are available only ...
0
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1
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73
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Are people's face/voice copyrighted by default?
As you may know there are some AI apps that can clone anybody's voice (turn your voice to their voice), or there are some face swap apps you can replace your face with somebody else's face and make a ...
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A question about using a product name in a book title
Is it nominal use if I have a book title "I'm a weeble" based on the title of one essay in a book of essays?
The essay implies that I'm a weeble because I wobble but I don't fall down as ...
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HELP!!! Court order for a DMCA counter notice [closed]
I was reposting someone's AI pictures without permission and Twitter removed them so I filled a counter notice saying it's AI.
The next day I got this email from Twitter. What does it mean and what ...
3
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3
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1k
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Can one grant a license for something that is not copyrighted?
Is it possible for someone to license something that is not copyrightable (e.g. too trivial, or no creative work), and is the licensee bound by that license if they use the "licensed" ...
0
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1
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70
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National Parks Trademarks / Copyright
I would like to create a stamp collection book/journal about National Parks, and one would be about U.S. National Parks.
Am I infringing any copyright or trademarks if I list the U.S. National Parks? ...
5
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2
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What is the legality of copyrighting an already copyrighted and trademarked logo?
Many sites will have links to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. located on their site usually using logo "badges". Most of these sites provide their own official badges, but you can also ...
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1
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140
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Library of babel image archives. Copyright and illegal images?
I just learned about the library of babel image archives. It works exactly like the version with the books. There are all possible images with that specific size available.
For the copyright part, I ...
4
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1
answer
128
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What happens to my software licenses when I die?
If I die, my computer or phone will pass to my estate, and then to my heirs according to my will.
What happens to the licenses I held that authorized using the software installed on those devices? ...
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Is there any legal trouble in a book including a game similar "Jeopardy"? [duplicate]
I am writing a book that includes classroom games. Though most are generic, one core trivia format matches "Jeopardy" in the classroom. The teacher pastes cards on the wall, with questions ...
3
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1
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68
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Is an implicit copyright license sublicensable?
I am involved with a small magazine owned by a limited company in England. It has been in print for a little over a century and contains many articles written by identifiable third parties. In many ...
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0
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242
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Can YouTube videos count as non-commercial and/or educational for the purpose of fair use?
One of the factors courts consider when determining when use of copyrighted material falls under fair use is whether the use is for “nonprofit educational purposes”.
Now, some claim or assume that ...
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1
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81
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Web scraping legal question
I am based in Germany and have a question regarding web scraping and how this is legal for existing sites.
Two examples:
google.com they have a search engine and scrape the internet. They do not only ...
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146
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Is Microsoft allowed to bring Playstation games (that were ported to PC) to Xbox, or would they face legal backlash?
Sony's Playstation has several games exclusive to their console (e.g. Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, God of War, Horizon Forbidden Dawn). Recently, Sony ported these games to PC, making them available ...
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87
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Consequential damages for copyright infringement?
Many software license agreements (or even terms of sale for physical copies) include prohibitions on reverse engineering as a condition. If I legitimately purchase and install and use the software, I ...
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1
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68
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Publish a vocabulary list from a Korean Comic
I'm learning Korean through comics. So everytime I read a chapter, I always make an extensive vocabulary list containing an English translation for each Korean word in that chapter.
My question is: ...
2
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1
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Is it okay to create an application that stores youtube & spotify links with showing the thumbnails of the content related to the links? [closed]
I am creating an app where users can save the links of the contents they like in the app. The app fetches the thumbnail image of the related content and shows them along with the length of the content ...
2
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1
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192
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When does transmitting something create a copy of it?
If I send a bunch of Internet packets containing the bytes of a copyrighted work to you, privately, is a "copy" of the work being made? And if so, by who?
Say we're talking about a song. ...
7
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2
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After reading a fact from a copyrighted textbook, does asking about that fact on a public forum infringe copyright?
When someone reads a line or a paragraph in a copyrighted textbook that explains a fact T, then wonders why T occurs, is asking a question (on Stack Exchange or another public forum) such as: "...
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3
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5k
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Can you own a copyright of something where no remaining copies exist?
Suppose Bob owns the copyright to a TV show. Unfortunately, Bob isn't very smart, and he keeps the only copy in the world in a warehouse, and the warehouse accidentally burns down. Does this have any ...
2
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1
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166
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Video games that are no longer commercially available - can we still make videos showcasing them?
So one of my younger friends has this Youtube channel (which luckily hasn't been deleted) where he has showcased this game that hasn't been commercially available for almost 12 years1. He is able to ...
0
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1
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93
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Does re-implementing a software API violate copyright?
Company A sells a software services. To promote adoption, it publicly documents the programmable interface.
Company B develops a competing software servic implementing the same interface (but blackbox ...
7
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2
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288
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Are "Plex servers" as they seem to be commonly used actually illegal?
There's a piece of software called "Plex" that basically lets you operate your own private streaming service. You load it up with music and video files, and then you can connect to it from ...
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1
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128
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Can I use Windows fonts for my game?
I want to use a Windows font in my game, specifically Nyala. In the font redistribution FAQ one of the questions is:
"Can I use the fonts to produce captions and text included in videos?
We view ...
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2
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117
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German Online Law [closed]
Since moving to Germany you're always faced with stories of fees to pay upon internet usage (streaming movies, z-library, google adblocker add-on, VPN add-on etc.) what's the punishable acts online in ...
5
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1
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Do we know if using computer games to make CGI for history youtubes is fair use?
Many people make youtube history documentaries using recent closed source computer games to make the graphics. This involves playing the game as released, and using the gameplay graphics to explain ...
2
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1
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187
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Can an animal commit copyright infringement?
Suppose Bob has a parrot who has learned a song from listening to the radio. If the parrot presses a button on Bob's computer to start a Livestream (or record a video) and records itself singing a ...
0
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1
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108
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In places where religion is officially recognized, can they give any human or group of humans a copyright over religious scriptures?
EG in Jordan let's say, and you have the idea to translate the Quran into Ithkuil or Navajo or something like that, can a court actually give them copyright if by the law of Jordan, God is officially ...
2
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1
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143
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Can a Japanese Company sue another Japanesse Company in US Court?
The company Pocketpair recently released a game that many allege violates Nintendo's IP rights. My friends and I were discussing the situation when I brought the Idea-Expression Dichotomy, a feature ...
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1
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76
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Does acknowledging derivative works reduce the ability for a license-holder to seek legal remedy?
Suppose Alice owns an IP for Aliceland. Without Alice's permission, Bob creates an Aliceland fanfiction, Bobland. I'll take it for granted that this is a derivative work, in violation of Alice's ...
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4
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How can I make a fan game entirely legally?
I would like to make a video game based on IP I do not own. I understand that there are many legal issues with this and it seems that most of the answers online are either “you can never do it” or “...
2
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1
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74
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Who would own the copyright to the original character in a freelance commissioned art piece?
I was debating some friends who were very into Dungeons and Dragons (DnD). They created these original characters. One friend commissioned a piece of art for their original character. It was a simple ...
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1
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111
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is it legal to monetize a translation of a foreign song
Suppose I find a copyright-protected song that has not been released in English. Could I release and monetize an English translation/interpretation of this song?
Is it possible to copyright my ...
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1
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143
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Can i use the name of a university on a map
I make wood cut and laser engraved maps of cities/towns/locations. Can I use the name of a University on the map. No logos, just the name of the University and its longitude and latitude.
Thanks
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When using material that requests attribution, do you have to when using internally?
FlatIcon requests that we add attribution (it is required according to the website). In the case of apps (my case), it states the following:
Paste this link on the website where your app is available ...
12
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5
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5k
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Finding the license for a widely-used photograph
I'm writing a blog post related to the C programming language, and would like to illustrate it with this iconic photograph of Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie in front of a DEC PDP-11, but only if ...
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2
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What options are available to protect one's copyright-protected work if one does not register it?
In the United States, the US Copyright Office says that "registration is voluntary" and works are protected by copyright as soon as they are "created and fixed in a tangible form"....
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With regards to character design, at what point does inspiration become a derivative work?
There is a lot of controversy right now on Palworld being characterized as a knock-off of Pokemon. While the prevailing opinion seems to be that the gameplay and game as a whole cannot possibly an ...
8
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2
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3k
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Does memorizing a copyrighted work create a copy?
There's a lot of hubub recently about ML models memorizing their training data, and the copyright implications of that.
How did this used to work before fancy technology was brought into it? If I buy ...
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1
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54
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Can lyrics be read on Podcasts?
I have a podcast where I am reviewing and telling the story about old hymns, Christian music, and artist. It is about trying to save the older songs and listening to the older artist. A lot of the ...
2
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2
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Can translators(Google Translate, Deepl etc.) own the translation of just one word?
I have a list of just words in English language. Can I use translations of these words to other languages in commercial?
For example Google Translate Terms of Service says that I can use their ...
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What could Microsoft do, if someone uses their software with violating the terms of uses [closed]
Related question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57930170/can-you-run-sql-server-developer-edition-on-a-live-production-windows-server
In this question,
What could Microsoft do with taking legal ...