Question about Java

[VegetaPunk]

Im writing a program at school for my final project that would help
me and the department I work in out. My question is can they legally use
it? Do I need to get a copyright for it (if that makes sense)?

Thanks in advance

[Wes]

You are "allowed" to use Java, no copyright needed. I'm not sure if you plan on selling your program, that's where all the legalities might come in.

[jeremy.king]

No you don't need any permission whatsoever to use Java. Or C++ or C or Perl or Tcl (you get the point). Thats a silly question.

As for the comment about selling the software...What legalities are you talking about? Thats absurd to mislead someone with a comment like that.

Veg, you can do whatever you want with the program you write assuming YOU wrote it, including selling it. So no worries about licensing or anything like that.

[Westside guy]

As for the comment about selling the software...What legalities are you talking about? Thats absurd to mislead someone with a comment like that.

Veg, you can do whatever you want with the program you write assuming YOU wrote it, including selling it. So no worries about licensing or anything like that.

Actually this isn't always correct. For a specific example: There's a company called Trolltech that released a library for graphics under Linux - the library is called QT (it's the library that the KDE window manager uses). As it was initially released, you could incorporate these library routines into your programs and distribute them for free - AS LONG AS YOU WEREN'T SELLING THE PROGRAM. If you were selling your program, you were required to pay a fee to Trolltech. It was written specifically into the license under which they released the software. Trolltech has since amended their license, but you get the idea.

Also, a few years back Sun - the developer of Java - did try to change their license so that any commercial software developed with Java would require a royalty be paid to Sun. Pretty much everyone threatened to abandon Sun's Java, and they wisely changed their mind.

So generally speaking: if you're using 100% of your own code then you don't have to worry about costs and fees, even if you sell your program. But if you incorporate third-party code - and many people do, because there's no point in reinventing the wheel over and over, so to speak - then you need to be aware of the licensing terms under which that third party code was released.

[mnkeybsness]

A copyright is basically just a claim that you made it so that you can get at anyone who tries selling your work without your permission or giving you royalties. All you need to do for a copyright is slap on © (©) and the year with your name or organization and then you own the rights to that work and can specify the level to which others are allowed to use it.

The wording on your post is also a little open to interpretation... do you mean you don't want them to be able to use it because you wrote it? In reality, schools have rights to any and all information, assignments, discoveries, etc that students come upon within their education. In my physics classes, we were required to write everything in a University notebook, which in the front cover was a legally binding contract that said any information in written in the notebook would be property of the University. Crazy, especially since it was Physics I and no one is going to make any groundbreaking discoveries in moment, energy, circuits, etc in their first or second semester.

[VegetaPunk]

The wording on your post is also a little open to interpretation... do you mean you don't want them to be able to use it because you wrote it? In reality, schools have rights to any and all information, assignments, discoveries, etc that students come upon within their education. In my physics classes, we were required to write everything in a University notebook, which in the front cover was a legally binding contract that said any information in written in the notebook would be property of the University. Crazy, especially since it was Physics I and no one is going to make any groundbreaking discoveries in moment, energy, circuits, etc in their first or second semester.

Thats is crazy!! I dont care who uses it though I just wanted to use it at work without having to worry about legal issues. I did write all if the code so no worries there! :D Thanks again for the help everyone.

[superbovine]

http://law.freeadvice.com/intellectual_property/
http://forum.freeadvice.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=59

post on these forums. i have developed two pieces of software that became commericial that were part of a university project. however i was a paid researcher. a lot of claims to your software come with weather you used school equipment to develope the product. anyways the first advice i gave about posting on the legal forum is what you should do.