Can I Use A Copyrighted ..joomla Template Which Is Downloaded From Rapidshare…for My Website….?
February 23, 2010 under FAQ
This is actually one of those questions that leads to nine more with no answers.
The best answer is that I would strongly suggest talking to a legal expert in your area before proceeding. Better yet ask several.
So the first question you have to ask is what jurisdiction you are in. Some countries/provinces/states/etcetera do not recognize copyright. If you are in one of these jurisdictions then you are probably not any LEGAL trouble.
I am going to assume that you are somewhere in the US and base my answers on that.
So in the US an work created in the last several decades is considered to be copyrighted by default. So even if something does not contain a statement of “I am copyrighted”, it still is. Also note that just because a work is copyrighted does not mean it has been reported tot he US copyright office. (This will matter if you are sued, because it determines what kind of damages you may owe).
Also note that because you are already asking this question, if you are sued then you will probably be considered a willful infringer, which means the damages will be much higher. (Aka you intentionally ripped someone off so we make you pay more).
So everything is copyrighted and you want to use it. Well there are two paths that allow you to. The first is to get permission. I think this method is self explanatory.
The second method is that you may use a work in certain situations without permission if it falls into a VERY ambiguous description of fair use. To be fair use it must fall into a combination of the following:
1) The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2) The nature of the copyrighted work;
3) Amount and substantially of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4) The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
I would say the following article from Slashdot illustrates most of the relevant points faster than I can:http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=…
If you want an opinion based on no facts? I would say if you are not going to be making ANY money off of this web site (directly or indirectly) then you are probably safe using the template (not that it is legal, but that it probably wont be an issue). If you are going to be using it for profit then you may end up giving the creator the template every penny made off of the web site.
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