63
votes
What laws would Jesus be breaking if he were to turn water into wine today?
North Carolina, united-states
The problem is Jesus didn't make wine, he made liquor, which is more heavily regulated.
NCGS § 18B-306 (a)
Authority. - An individual may make, possess, and transport ...
- 2,693
59
votes
Why do some licenses have a clause stating that one can't violate the law?
Because breaking the law is not breach of contract
(Necessarily).
Were you to use the model to 3D-print a gun and rob banks with it, without this clause, you have not broken the contract. That would ...
- 198k
57
votes
Accepted
Is it illegal to backup your hard drive if you have copyrighted software on it?
You're allowed to make backups of copyrighted software, as long as you are authorized to use the software, the backups are not distributed, and they are destroyed when/if you are no longer authorized ...
- 2,025
53
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to write a software license if I'm not a licensed attorney?
As Greendrake says, you can legally create your "open source" license. There are two problems with this:
Since you are not an experienced contract lawyer, there is a significant risk that ...
- 32.9k
47
votes
Can a user sell my software (MIT license) without modification?
Yes. The license itself is really just one sentence long, and states explicitly that this is allowed.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software ...
- 29k
45
votes
Do I really have to Open Source my project?
You need to know two things about the GPL:
The GPL is a license which requires that when you distribute binaries, you distribute the source code with them (binaries being the things you can directly ...
- 575
44
votes
Accepted
How does licensing software not imply ownership? Don't I own a Windows operating system once I pay for it?
General
The legal discussion hinges on the question whether the concept of copyright exhaustion applies to software. (The linked article also discusses the Court of Justice of the European Union ...
- 4,747
40
votes
Accepted
Can an open source licence be revoked if it violates employer's IP?
The Apache 2.0 license purports to be irrevocable, but it also presupposes that the supposed licensor has the right to grant permission to copy. In this case, that is untrue, so there never was a ...
- 210k
40
votes
Do the UK TV licensing rules disregard innocent until proven guilty?
The system operates on "innocent until proven guilty"
If you watch or record live television or you download or watch programmes on BBC iPlayer (live, catch up, or on demand), you must have ...
- 3,722
40
votes
Does CC BY-SA permit denial of attribution if the requested pseudonym is political?
I don't see how.
Remember that a license is a contract where the author gives permission to copy (modify, redistribute, remix, etc) a copyrighted work, provided that the licensee fulfills the stated ...
- 29k
38
votes
Can freelancers publish code in GitHub and claim it to be theirs?
Provided you are in one of the 170+ countries signatory to the Berne Convention (the current 10 non-signatories are, exhaustively: Eritrea, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, San Marino, Iran, Iraq, ...
- 3,329
35
votes
Is it legal to copy a software license text from other companies to write my own?
Software licenses are protected by copyright, meaning that you need the author's permission to copy them. One way to get permission is to buy a license, since many of them are for sale. Sometimes (e.g....
- 210k
35
votes
Accepted
What stops stolen software from offering a valid license?
I've never seen a license agreement like this make that license conditional on having actually paid for the software.
Careful reading of license agreements shows that this isn't accurate. Commercial ...
- 2,693
33
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to backdate monthly software license fees if you reactivate a license?
This is a very common scheme for software support contracts.
You're making an incorrect statement that you're forgoing benefits in the inactive period. The issue is you're receiving the version ...
- 2,693
32
votes
Do the UK TV licensing rules disregard innocent until proven guilty?
Let's start with the OP's statement
In the UK you have to state that you don't have a TV license and sign a declaration to that effect every 2 years (unless you then get a license).
You do not have ...
- 337
32
votes
Are you allowed to solve an exercise from a book more than seven times?
You can make as many "manual copies" of math homework for yourself as you like.
The seemingly arbitrary number of "7" came into being because with the invention and popularity of ...
- 5,965
29
votes
What laws would Jesus be breaking if he were to turn water into wine today?
None
new-south-wales
Anyone can make wine for personal use (which includes giving it to friends).
Food handling and labelling laws are only applicable if the wine is going to be sold.
Assuming the ...
- 198k
28
votes
Do I really have to Open Source my project?
It depends on exactly how you are "using" the GPL code.
If you have copied and modified the source code then you can only distribute copies under the GPL.
If you have invoked a GPL program ...
- 13k
27
votes
Is it legal to write a software license if I'm not a licensed attorney?
Is it legal to write a software license if I'm not a licensed attorney?
Yes.
creating a contract is considered practicing law.
Is that true?
Yes and no.
You don't even need to know what the word &...
- 25.8k
25
votes
Accepted
Non-profit granting rights of use of software to for-profit
You can't grant or license that which is not yours.
For example, the Slack terms of service say:
We grant to Customer a non-sublicensable, non-transferable, non-exclusive, limited license for ...
- 29k
25
votes
How to legally sell installation of Windows 7 as a service?
You enter into an agreement with Microsoft.
But seeing as Microsoft no longer sells Windows 7 licenses, and Windows 7 fell off support long ago, your business proposal is dead in the water.
- 506
23
votes
Copyright in copyleft licence?
No. GPL works are copyrighted (as are most creative works basically everywhere in the world, as soon as they're created, whether or not the author does anything about it), and copyright is what gives ...
- 701
23
votes
If I have posted my own "homebrew" content on RPG.SE, and plan to publish it (after revising based on feedback), what credits am I required to give?
It's complicated
You still own your own posts
First off, you own everything that you originally created. Posting it on Stack Exchange doesn't affect your rights to your own content.
Incorporating ...
- 10.2k
22
votes
Accepted
Are Windows activation tools illegal?
If the tool circumvents Windows' copy protection (which is a computer question, not a legal one, but I cannot imagine a circumstance in which this isn't access-circumvention), then it is a violation ...
- 210k
21
votes
Accepted
Will using a cover of a song in a film free me from legal obligations?
No, the musical composition itself (i.e., what you might express tangibly in sheet music) has copyright distinct from the copyright that exists on Led Zepplin's recording of the song. Your new cover ...
- 3,329
21
votes
Is it legal to copy a software license text from other companies to write my own?
Contracts and other legal documents, of which software licenses would fall, are protected by copyright, in general. However, not every contract would be; according to Kenneth Adams (NY Law Journal, ...
- 1,127
21
votes
Accepted
As a non-US person, what license may I have to use public materials from agencies of US government?
17 USC 105 provides that:
(a) In General.—Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government, but the United States Government is not precluded from ...
- 113k
21
votes
Accepted
Does MIT license oblige me to publish its code in open sources
You'll want to read the actual licenses yourself and understand what is required. If you don't understand, then you'll want to consult an attorney.
But neither of these licenses are all that complex ...
- 3,498
21
votes
Advantages of a law license other than the ability to practice law
If you stay licensed, you have the option to enter the practice of law in the future with no administrative hassles.
In contrast, if you let your license lapse, you could have to study for and take ...
- 195k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible