many people remove the copyright from my script , what i can do ?

Question

many people remove the copyright from my script , what i can do ? best wishes

it is a php script and open source :D

Answer 1

I don't think there's anything you can do to stop them removing your copyright information. But it might be worth getting in contact with them and letting them know that they are breaching the terms of the license. Getting in contact with them personally is your best bet to get this resolved easily.

Answer 2

One library I used once always printed in the sout the copyright.

There was a comment like this above the code that did it:

Comment the line bellow to remove the copyright message, but the license says you can't.

It woked for me... But it depends on the license your script is under. It can be free with this kind of restrictions.

Answer 3

If they don't respond to your contacts, if you have published the script under a license that prohibits removal of the copyright, you can in theory start legal action. It is doubtful, though, how far this will get you - if the people who did this are outside your country, you will have to spend a lot of money on lawyers with very little chance of success.

If you have published it under a license that is backed by an organization, like the GPLs, and it's more than a 10-line script, you could try contacting the organization. If I remember correctly, the GNU foundation has sued companies for breaching the GPL in the past.

Answer 4

Depends how much you want to stop your code being edited.

You can encode your php files so that they are not changeable (or readable) by the people who are downloading it but it takes a little bit of jumping through hoops.

Zend have a product ( Zend Encoder - http://www.zend.com/products/guard/ ) That lets you encode scripts that can't be read or changed in their encoded form.

People who want to use your script then need to have the Zend Optimiser installed to be able to run your script.

Like I said, lots of hoops to jump through and Zend Encoder is not free (or cheap last time I checked) but if you are running a business that depends on revenue from this script then it may be a decent option.

Answer 5

First, you want to ask yourself if you care enough to do something about; i.e. if you are prepared to put in the time, effort .... and possibly cold hard cash!

If you are, then ...

1. Understand what the OSS license you are using says explicitly about removing copyright notices. If it says nothing, read up about what the copyright law says in the relevant legal jurisdiction. (It probably says that it is forbidden, or that copyright notices are not a legal requirement for copyright to exist.)

2. Find out who is violating your copyright. You need to identify a legal entity (person or company) and get a physical address. (A post office box or email address is probably not good enough. Both are difficult to trace to a real person / company.)

3. Figure out if they are actually worth pursuing. You are wasting your time dealing with spammers and other bottom feeders. They will just ignore you. And suing someone with empty pockets doesn't get you anywhere.

4. Capture evidence of the license violation. Download and save copies of files, record dates and times, and other information about the capture process.

What you do next depends on the OSS license. If it is an FSF license, or another one that advertises that they will pursue license violations, contact them giving them the details and evidence you have gathered. For example, this page and this page talk about dealing with GPL violations.

Otherwise, go and find a lawyer!

The normal procedure is to start by sending a letter pointing out the violation and requesting that they remedy it. You don't need to be unpleasant unless the situation warrants it. It is always best if you can persuade them to do the right thing; e.g. just put the notice back!

If polite requests fail, and then lawyer's letters fails, the final step to start a court action. And that's where things can get nasty ... and really expensive.

Finally, don't expect to make any money out of pursuing license violators. Even if you win a court battle / out-of-court settlement, you probably won't get enough in the way of damages / settlement to pay the lawyers. (And representing yourself in court is a sure way to lose.)