How to correctly use code you didnt write

Re:How to correctly use code you didnt write by raphman on Sunday March 11, 2012 @05:14PM (#3691308)

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!).

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.

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Re:How to correctly use code you didnt write by Cushman on Sunday March 11, 2012 @05:49PM (#3691393)

You 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.

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Re:How to correctly use code you didnt write by true_religion on Sunday March 11, 2012 @05:55PM (#3691407)

Nothing 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.

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Re:How to correctly use code you didnt write by Cushman on Monday March 12, 2012 @02:18PM (#3694668)

That 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.

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