On 5/1/2012 8:18 PM, Alex Harui wrote:
On 5/1/12 4:54 PM, "Jeffry Houser"<jef...@dot-com-it.com> wrote:
It shouldn't violate copyright; because we are writing our own code
from scratch. Unless Adobe wants to claim copyright on the API which is
possible. I know I read about a API related lawsuit at one point, but I
have no idea what the results were.
Again, I'm not a lawyer, but here's my logic: If we were writing actual
code that did something, then I would agree, starting from scratch shouldn't
be a violation of copyright. But to try to create an exact replica of an
API is to me the equivalent of hearing a song, but not having the sheet
music, re-creating the song exactly. I don't think you can do that in the
music business.
You certainly can do that in the music business. Independent creation
is a copyright defense (even if it isn't a patent defense).
The "infringed" party has to prove that you had access to their song
and copied it in order to receive any damages. This is extremely
difficult to do.
I remember reading a case where the drummer of an unknown band went on
to play for a well known artist. Even though the drummer testified that
he gave their demo to the 'big artist' that included the song in
question; the original band lost the case based on the "big artists"
testimony that he didn't remember that
The only way to protected a song is to be the one who makes it famous.
It'd be a lot easier to prove that someone heard "HollaBack Girl" by
Gwen Stefani than say, "Read it on the Radio" by 22nd Century.
I think this is covered in this book somewhere:
http://www.amazon.com/Need-About-Music-Business-Edition/dp/0743293185
By the same token, Adobe would [in theory] have to prove we copied
their code as opposed to writing our own. Of course, once again, I am
not advocating this as a route we should consider. Sometimes I like to
make decisions on things that are least likely to get me sued.
