[QCLUG] The Coding Ethics of Copy and Paste

[David Hinkle]

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Ok, so here's the discussion:

You need to write some code that does some simple something you've never do=
ne before.   (For the sake of example:  Sending an email with an attachment=
 from PHP).  So you google it, find a helpful blog with an article about ho=
w to send an email with an attachment.  The short article includes some exp=
lanation about how this works and includes a short, 10 or so line example.

There is no explicit license or release on the website because it's just so=
meone's blog.

Do you feel comfortable copy/pasting his example code and editing it to do =
your bidding?  Or do you feel that it's a no no?

Legally speaking, the issue isn't clear.   Code has to be expressive to be =
copyrighted.   For example, there is precedent that you can't copyright a h=
eader file that only defines well known constants.  On the other hand, any =
expressive work automatically gains copyright as soon as it's written and t=
he only way to find out otherwise is to litigate over it, but in theory a c=
ompletely functional piece of code with no 'art' so to speak isn't copyrigh=
table.   Then of course there is the implied consent issue in regards to th=
e article on the blog itself.

Of course, some guy with a blog you've never probably isn't going to be sui=
ng you for copyright infringement for copying his 10 line snippet.  And the=
 government is not likely to correct the grey area mess that is copyright l=
aw anytime soon.

In academia, in regards to the written word which copyright was originally =
designed to protect , the copy paste of a single sentence is often consider=
ed plagiarism if it goes undocumented.   But what about in programming?  Wh=
ere "a =3D a+1" and "b=3Db+1" are equivalent, and only the variable names h=
ave been changed to protect the guilty?

But we're not lawyers, and we're not academics.   So let's not discuss the =
legal implications.    Let's discuss how you feel about it.   Do you feel i=
t's kosher?  Do you feel it's wrong?  If the guy sitting next to you did th=
is would you feel 'business as usual' or would it be something you go to th=
e boss over?  I want to know more about the community standards on this iss=
ue.

David

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