Licencing and Copyrighting software

[mikelat]

I am planning on releasing software for licencing, to pay for the time I spent making it, and the time I will be spending improving it. Both, life time (one time pay) and yearly licences will be avaliable.

The question I have, is a serious one. What are my rights in this matter to stop people from copying, reselling, using without paying, etc? Any details towards how to obtain these rights would be extremely helpful.

[mtmosier]

Assuming your country is a signatory of the Berne convention (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works), you are automatically protected under copyright law. With few exceptions (fair use, parody), people have no right to copy your work without permission from you. In some countries (like the US) it may be beneficial to also register your copyright, even though it's not strictly necessary. The details vary from country to country.

Of course I am not a lawyer, get an opinion from a practicing lawyer if necessary, so on and so forth.

[mikelat]

I'm in canada, its almost garenteed I'm covered then.

I'll go look for a lawyer if no one else can tell me anything then. Thanks ;)

[cretaceous]

Is your app php/mysql ?

If so, I read that mySql needs a commercial license

I dont know if that is the case for a web based app - any comments from anyone?

[mikelat]

Yeah its PHP/mySQL. Its a forum script.

See what I mean? Theres really no straight answer for this question when I look around.

[vaaaska]

I have to say it...with a billion forum software things out there is yours actually unique?

The other option is to go open source, ask for donations, still be copyrighted and join the party.

[mikelat]

I'm aware that there are hundreds of forum things, but with each and every one of them, they're either missing features, have bugs, etc

Even invision and vbb have their share of bugs. I'm joining the fray with innovation, fast and effective in mind. I am doing many things in which all the other boards are not.

You're right, I could have it open source, but I'd rather do it like this, because I'm not actually forcing people to pay (you can still download it completely free), but the pay version will have many other fine tunings and touchings which are desirable.

[vaaaska]

Originally posted by mikelat
I'm aware that there are hundreds of forum things, but with each and every one of them, they're either missing features, have bugs, etc

Even invision and vbb have their share of bugs. I'm joining the fray with innovation, fast and effective in mind. I am doing many things in which all the other boards are not.

You're right, I could have it open source, but I'd rather do it like this, because I'm not actually forcing people to pay (you can still download it completely free), but the pay version will have many other fine tunings and touchings which are desirable.

So, you think it's unique. Then I'll be interested to see what you are doing. The cms and bb game is a tough one to crack. I'm in a similar situation as you (but with a cms).

I'm going open source and not really expecting to see any return for all the spare time effort - and that's perfectly ok. I just want to say that I got it out there...

Good luck...