Re: Licence to view source code.

From: <Greg.MacGowan[_at_]Law.UC.Edu>
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 12:45:58 -0400

On 28/04/97, Edward Barrow <edward[_at_]plato32.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Web pages are copyright works, provided that they are original. To view
> such web pages requires copies to be made (from the server into various
> caches, then onto the screen). Such copies are, in UK law at least,
> copies requiring the consent of the copyright holder. It is reasonable
> to assume, therefore, that by posting the pages on the server and
> publicising the URL the copyright holder has granted an implied licence
> to surfers to make the copies necessary to view the pages. UK courts
> tend to limit implied licences to the narrowest possible construction.
>
> My questions:
> [a and b deleted]
> (c) does the implied licence (or equivalent doctrine) extend to:
> i) viewing the document source code?
> ii) printing the document?
>
> [My answer to (c) i) and ii) in the UK would be 'probably not' but I'd
> be interested in others' opinions]

With respect to (c) ii), I don't see a problem with printing the document provided that the electronic copy is deleted.

(c) i) is a bit more difficult to explain, but I will try. It is, of course, the source code that has been downloaded to the user's computer. The browser is the likely medium of transmission, as well as the likely medium of viewing (this assumes that the file is in a format supported by the web browser, and not in another unsupported format such as PDF, WAV, AVI, etc. which might require a different application be launched).

Once this copy has been downloaded, it may be viewed in several applications simultaneously, but the odd part is that there will still be only one copy of the file in RAM. It seems to me that there is no license which restricts the user to viewing the file in only certain software applications, or certain types of applications, or which says that the file may only be viewed in its derivitive form (which is what the rendition in the browser is), rather than its original form (the source code).

---

Greg S. MacGowan
Center for Electronic Text in the Law (CETL) University of Cincinnati College of Law
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0142

phone: (513) 556-2334
fax: (513) 556-6265
Email: Greg.MacGowan[_at_]Law.UC.edu
http://www.law.uc.edu/CETL/gsm Received on Fri May 02 1997 - 16:48:36 GMT