Copyright infringment all over the market

mmafighter077 · Apr 26, 2009

I am not a lawyer and I don't know too much about this... but isn't it illegal to sell apps such as sound boards and pictures that are copyrighted on the market or anywhere for that matter if they don't have the rights from the owners?

I am seeing a bunch of apps on the market with icons from other copyrighted pictures and apps such as soundboards that use copyrighted content. Doesn't it make it illegal for the devs to sell them w / out copyrights?

P.S im not complaining just inquiring.

Karolis · Apr 26, 2009

mmafighter077 said:
I am not a lawyer and I don't know too much about this... but isn't it illegal to sell apps such as sound boards and pictures that are copyrighted on the market or anywhere for that matter if they don't have the rights from the owners?

I am seeing a bunch of apps on the market with icons from other copyrighted pictures and apps such as soundboards that use copyrighted content. Doesn't it make it illegal for the devs to sell them w / out copyrights?

P.S im not complaining just inquiring.

It probably is illegal, but until someone claims copyright, no one will do anything.

UnkzDomain · Apr 26, 2009

Karolis said:
It probably is illegal, but until someone claims copyright, no one will do anything.

Well, it would be a good way to clean up the market wouldn't it? =P

Karolis · Apr 26, 2009

amgupt01 said:
Well, it would be a good way to clean up the market wouldn't it? =P

Yes, but I don't think if anyone but the copyright holder will complain, Google will do anything.

UnkzDomain · Apr 27, 2009

Well, you could always mark the app as innappropriate and email the dev and stuff...

wizern23 · Apr 27, 2009

yea the sound boards are copyright infringement but the themes aren't. the themes use pictures you can find through google and most people dont care about it. You then have the sound boards that use trademark words and catchphrases. selling these would probably be considered illegal just like bootlegging. They take a sound thats supposed to be approved to be sold and sells it without the consent of the people or companies behind it.

If you complain about the paid ones then they'll be taken down along with the free ones because the companies will want to be compensated for the use of their property even in a free way.

wizern23 · Apr 27, 2009

whoops double post lol

momentarylapseofreason · Apr 27, 2009

wizern23 said:
yea the sound boards are copyright infringement but the themes aren't. the themes use pictures you can find through google and most people dont care about it. You then have the sound boards that use trademark words and catchphrases. selling these would probably be considered illegal just like bootlegging. They take a sound thats supposed to be approved to be sold and sells it without the consent of the people or companies behind it.

If you complain about the paid ones then they'll be taken down along with the free ones because the companies will want to be compensated for the use of their property even in a free way.

Just because you can find an image through Google or find it on a message board, or hanging on a wall in a mall does NOT mean you have any rights to it.

The second point to your argument is right though. Most people won't really care to pursue it.

Now, the things that piss me off are people posting things such as books (military guides for one) and CHARGING for it. It's not their book and if I recall correctly from way back in 1997 when I was in basic training, not supposed to be for the general public.

f4phantomii · Apr 28, 2009

I've wondered about this as well.

My limited knowledge says that as long as they are using public domain images from the net without any posted copyright notices and they are free on the Market, then they are probably OK.

Those who are selling apps that use copyrighted material are opening themselves up for prosecution.

Now some apps that are for sale.....say Doom for example. You buy the Android port, but you download the proprietary doom.wad file separately after purchase. Now the gray area here is that the Doom app actually is setup to go ahead and download it for you right out of the box. But I think it's using the shareware version, so it's probably OK.

Ditto for MAME....you download the emulator....how and where you obtain the ROMs are your business. Many of the original copyright owners are no longer legal entities anymore, and others that *are* still around have graciously donated their ROMs legally. But there are still plenty of illegal ROMs floating around. I suspect it's just a drop in the bucket compared to music/movie illegal sharing.

neoobs · Apr 28, 2009

In all actuality, as long as the material (photos, music, and video) are public domain you can use them and even charge for them. For instance look at things like South Park and Family Guy. These shows use a lot of copyrighted material as parodies, they pay little to no royalities on these materials. And you might think these TV shows are free to watch, but think where they started... on a paid cable network.

momentarylapseofreason · Apr 28, 2009

1) Images, sound clips, video, etc. available on the internet are NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN unless noted as such. Do we get away with a lot? Yes... However, it doesn't mean that if someone wanted to pursue the matter, they wouldn't win.

2) It's copyrighted, no such thing as copywritten.

3) The sound clips and video you see on TV are either paid for or they use the "celebrity likeness" legalities which if deemed necessary, we can go into further.

neoobs · Apr 28, 2009

I don't think anyone ever said that things on the net are public domain. And not all parodies are paid for. It all depends on the situation.

momentarylapseofreason · Apr 28, 2009

neoobs said:
I don't think anyone ever said that things on the net are public domain. And not all parodies are paid for. It all depends on the situation.

I suppose you have completed law school as well. There are a lot of semantics on this topic.

Long story short, I take offense to people charging for information that isn't public domain (such as field manuals for soldiers).

punkweakling · Apr 28, 2009

neoobs said:
For instance look at things like South Park and Family Guy. These shows use a lot of copyrighted material as parodies, they pay little to no royalities on these materials.

WTF are you talking about? Unless you work in finance for the companies that produce South Park or Family guy you have NO IDEA what they do or don't pay for.

mmafighter077 · Apr 29, 2009

Someone in another forum made a good point. Sometimes the devs are selling the time and coding that allows the app or game to be used on the android. The actual app/ game is not what they are selling.

But I see where that can be a fine line to the owners of the apps. If I made a paid app for the pc and someone ported it to android and are making money off of it and not giving me royalties I would be upset. Even if he was selling his time and his coding. Its my app.

momentarylapseofreason · Apr 29, 2009

mmafighter077 said:
Someone in another forum made a good point. Sometimes the devs are selling the time and coding that allows the app or game to be used on the android. The actual app/ game is not what they are selling.

I don't see how that's a good point. If you photocopy a book or copy a CD, you can't sell "your time" that you took to make it. Otherwise people selling copies of DVDs on the street would never get busted. That has to be the most retarded argument I have heard thus far.

mmafighter077 · Apr 29, 2009

momentarylapseofreason said:
I don't see how that's a good point. If you photocopy a book or copy a CD, you can't sell "your time" that you took to make it. Otherwise people selling copies of DVDs on the street would never get busted. That has to be the most retarded argument I have heard thus far.

Are you serious?
Making a copy and making a code are two totally different things. I am not saying it is right sell the code for someone elses ported app but to compare simply making a copy to creating a code is like apples and oranges.

Making a photocopy is simply duplicating.... Creating a code so that an app can work for different platform takes time and effort. Its like taking someones invention and enhancing it.

I am also not saying this is legally correct. Its just a good point.

vr24 · Apr 29, 2009

You have to realize that in the instance of a sound board, the copyright holders have no reason to complain especially if it's free.

We are basically looking at free publicity and distribution of the material in a non-profitable manner, meaning, the infringer isn't making money selling the copyrighted works- so why would the owners have a gripe about it?

Now if there were full episodes, or these were being sold, I'm sure they may stand up and say something.

Basically- it appears that it is, in fact, copyright infringement- but there is little to zero reason to file a complaint about it by the copyright holder, why complain about hundreds of thousands of people enjoying your work and all the free publicity with zero negative side effects?

vr24 · Apr 29, 2009

mmafighter077 said:
Are you serious?
Making a copy and making a code are two totally different things. I am not saying it is right sell the code for someone elses ported app but to compare simply making a copy to creating a code is like apples and oranges.

Making a photocopy is simply duplicating.... Creating a code so that an app can work for different platform takes time and effort. Its like taking someones invention and enhancing it.

I am also not saying this is legally correct. Its just a good point.

If there is one thing that I learned in my copyright law class, it's that you can be a stupid infringer. Meaning, just because something took more time and effort, and you get no profit from it, doesn't mean you aren't an infringer all the same- just a stupid one.

bluecao · Apr 18, 2016

vr24 said:
If there is one thing that I learned in my copyright law class, it's that you can be a stupid infringer. Meaning, just because something took more time and effort, and you get no profit from it, doesn't mean you aren't an infringer all the same- just a stupid one.

Stupid infringer or not, some of this stuff gets a bit ridiculous. I just found this app, Flash Keyboard, doing pretty much whatever they can to get installs. I've seen fake wallpapers (text bubbles like raindrops), video of a virtual keyboard (not available), and today a post using the images of Snoopy, Mickey & Minnie, and Hello Kitty.

(note: could not provide links, as I'm a new user, but they can be found with a simple facebook search)

Copyright infringment all over the market

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