. Most of the codes are written by myself and the open source. But sometimes, when I stuck in a problem , I will search online and found some useful code snippets online provided by other programmers. It's more or less like a forum and someone asked the same question and another person gave his own answer. They are really very short snippets and I didn't found clear license there. Can I just use these short snippets in my APP. My app will make no money and I will not make it open source.... Is this fair use in programming? What's the fair use in programming?Is it legal to use short code snippets?
Is it legal to use short code snippets?
I am trying my best to write my own APP . Most of the codes are written by myself and the open source. But sometimes, when I stuck in a problem , I will search online and found some useful code snippets online provided by other programmers. It's more or less like a forum and someone asked the same question and another person gave his own answer. They are really very short snippets and I didn't found clear license there. Can I just use these short snippets in my APP. My app will make no money and I will not make it open source.... Is this fair use in programming? What's the fair use in programming?
. Most of the codes are written by myself and the open source. But sometimes, when I stuck in a problem , I will search online and found some useful code snippets online provided by other programmers. It's more or less like a forum and someone asked the same question and another person gave his own answer. They are really very short snippets and I didn't found clear license there. Can I just use these short snippets in my APP. My app will make no money and I will not make it open source.... Is this fair use in programming? What's the fair use in programming?
Hi Halie,
It's hard to give a categorical answer because it will depend on the amount of code involved and whether it constitutes a substantial part of the original which was published. Also if the piece of code is pretty obvious and indeed it is the only practical way of doing what you want, it is unlikely that it would meet the originality test necessary to be covered by copyright. There's all the difference in the world between a fairly straightforward conditional loop instruction and the entire code for Microsoft Word.
Secondly it is likely that if someone posted their solution to a problem on an open forum they intended it to be treated as open source, because that tends to be the default for most amateur scripters and coders. This is in contrast to professional programmers employed by a large software company who will know the commercial value in protecting their work.
It's hard to give a categorical answer because it will depend on the amount of code involved and whether it constitutes a substantial part of the original which was published. Also if the piece of code is pretty obvious and indeed it is the only practical way of doing what you want, it is unlikely that it would meet the originality test necessary to be covered by copyright. There's all the difference in the world between a fairly straightforward conditional loop instruction and the entire code for Microsoft Word.
Secondly it is likely that if someone posted their solution to a problem on an open forum they intended it to be treated as open source, because that tends to be the default for most amateur scripters and coders. This is in contrast to professional programmers employed by a large software company who will know the commercial value in protecting their work.
Advice or comment provided here is not and does not purport to be legal advice as defined by s.12 of Legal Services Act 2007