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Plagiarism of my open source app ChatSecure

chatsecure.org

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Re: Plagiarism of my open source app ChatSecure

#21

Post by PeterisP »

chrisballinger wrote: post #2

Hey, author of ChatSecure here. Has anyone else experienced plagiarism of their open source software? This guy was almost insultingly lazy and didn't even bother to use a different logo or obfuscate the code.

The whole point of a BSD licence is that I am allowed to redistribute it (with my changes optional) under more restrictive or closed source terms. This is what you explicitly allowed him to do by offering that licence.

If you want copies and derivatives to remain open source always, then use GPL - which adds a list of restrictions for redistribution.

Re: Plagiarism of my open source app ChatSecure

#22

Post by ZoFreX »

chrisballinger wrote: post #15
p4bl0 wrote: post #12

If you didn't download it, how do you know (s)he removed mentions of your name, and the BSD license mention? Because if those things are still there, what (s)he is doing is perfectly legal and fine. I see two things that you could do (in addition to the DMCA if the BSD license was actually not respected): - Selling it yourself cheaper than (s)he is (since anyway you weren't counting on making any money with it) with…

I shouldn't have to pay money to find out if my license is being violated. Honestly, I don't even care that they are selling the code, I just care that they are representing my work as their own.

As p4bl0 pointed out though, if your license isn't being violated then you have no claim here, they're obeying the law and your takedowns are not valid.

Re: Plagiarism of my open source app ChatSecure

#23

Post by beagle3 »

chrisballinger wrote: post #8
dododo wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i'm a bit confused: the bsd license allows you to re-sell someone else's source, binaries, images, etc for a profit. you just have to include the copyright notice. is that what you're sending the dmca notice about? because you couldn't find the necessary copyright notice? (if you didn't download it, how do you know it's not in the about box?)

* Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. * Neither the name of ChatSecure nor the names of its contributors may be used to endors…

Note: I think these guys are obnoxious freeloaders, and I'm on your side, however:

> I am not a lawyer, but my interpretation of the license was that you had to attribute me if you were selling my source code.

Perhaps they do - and if they do, they are within their rights (as granted to them by yourself through the BSD license).

> Either way, they are the ChatSecure name to promote themselves and representing the work as their own.

That would be a trademark violation, and potentially false representation.

As for trademark, if you want to take legal action, you probably need to register it with the USPTO (assuming you are in the US). I am not a lawyer either, but when I inquired about it a few years ago, it was apparently required to register trademarks and copyrights before taking legal action.

False pretenses have much higher standard than you would assume: Unless they write anywhere "we are the sole author of this work", they are probably legally ok.

If this affair upsets you (as it seems it does), you would probably be better off with a GPL license - it's a signal to (ab)users that you care, as opposed to BSD which is a signal that you don't.

I think you are the good guy here, but I'm not sure you have much legal standing after using the BSD -- unless they removed your copyright notices.

Re: Plagiarism of my open source app ChatSecure

#24

Post by Semaphor »

chrisballinger wrote: post #15
p4bl0 wrote: post #12

If you didn't download it, how do you know (s)he removed mentions of your name, and the BSD license mention? Because if those things are still there, what (s)he is doing is perfectly legal and fine. I see two things that you could do (in addition to the DMCA if the BSD license was actually not respected): - Selling it yourself cheaper than (s)he is (since anyway you weren't counting on making any money with it) with…

I shouldn't have to pay money to find out if my license is being violated. Honestly, I don't even care that they are selling the code, I just care that they are representing my work as their own.

I never used (and never will use) iTunes, but I can't believe they don't have some type of refund system?

Re: Plagiarism of my open source app ChatSecure

#26

Post by chrisballinger »

ZoFreX wrote: post #22
chrisballinger wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I shouldn't have to pay money to find out if my license is being violated. Honestly, I don't even care that they are selling the code, I just care that they are representing my work as their own.

As p4bl0 pointed out though, if your license isn't being violated then you have no claim here, they're obeying the law and your takedowns are not valid.

They are relicensing my software:

Regular License - $13.99

The regular license allows the use of the purchased item in a project for either personal or commercial uses, without the payment of any further fees or charges after the initial download cost. The regular license gives you the right to use the purchased items within 1 project of your own or on behalf of a client (commercial, personal, or non-profit). You or your client cannot offer the item up for resale either on its own or as part of a project. Items purchased under a regular license must not be redistributed or resold “as- is” or as part of any other collection of files.

What you can do: You can integrate the component in 1 APP. You can be distribute it only as a binary only (You cannot distribute Source Code). Commercial use is allowed. You can customize the Source Code.

Re: Plagiarism of my open source app ChatSecure

#27

Post by icebraining »

chrisballinger wrote: post #11
misnome wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting - I hadn't considered that the BSD licence doesn't seem to require the copyright notice to be displayed before downloading - so it could display the copyright notice in the purchased program, and be compliant? This case doesn't seem on the surface of it, to be completely clear cut. Is there a case to argue that it is morally wrong for them to charge for something that is free, (apparently) without adding…

I'm only interested in the representation of this software as his own, and including it in his "portfolio". If it turns out the BSD doesn't offer me strong enough legal protection against this kind of behavior, I will consider a move to the GPL with an App Store exception.

The GPL doesn't prevent people from selling your code as-is either, though it does prevent them from doing so using a different license.

Re: Plagiarism of my open source app ChatSecure

#28

Post by jancborchardt »

PeterisP wrote: post #21
chrisballinger wrote: post #2

Hey, author of ChatSecure here. Has anyone else experienced plagiarism of their open source software? This guy was almost insultingly lazy and didn't even bother to use a different logo or obfuscate the code.

The whole point of a BSD licence is that I am allowed to redistribute it (with my changes optional) under more restrictive or closed source terms. This is what you explicitly allowed him to do by offering that licence. If you want copies and derivatives to remain open source always, then use GPL - which adds a list of restrictions for redistribution.

Still, it needs to retain the copyright notice and credit the original author. What the plagiarist in this case did is use it as if it was Public Domain.

Re: Plagiarism of my open source app ChatSecure

#29

Post by p4bl0 »

chrisballinger wrote: post #26
ZoFreX wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As p4bl0 pointed out though, if your license isn't being violated then you have no claim here, they're obeying the law and your takedowns are not valid.

They are relicensing my software: Regular License - $13.99 The regular license allows the use of the purchased item in a project for either personal or commercial uses, without the payment of any further fees or charges after the initial download cost. The regular license gives you the right to use the purchased items within 1 project of your own or on behalf of a client (commercial, personal, or non-profit). You or…

Okay so this means that the BSD license you chose actually is violated. Please keep us up-to-date about how your DMCA goes!

Re: Plagiarism of my open source app ChatSecure

#30

Post by zcvosdfdgj »

jancborchardt wrote: post #28
PeterisP wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole point of a BSD licence is that I am allowed to redistribute it (with my changes optional) under more restrictive or closed source terms. This is what you explicitly allowed him to do by offering that licence. If you want copies and derivatives to remain open source always, then use GPL - which adds a list of restrictions for redistribution.

Still, it needs to retain the copyright notice and credit the original author. What the plagiarist in this case did is use it as if it was Public Domain.

You do not know that. He never downloaded it. So he does not know if the license and credit were changed.
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