GPL, Copyright, and Code Snippets

Question

About a week ago, I answered my own question on the WP Hackers mailing list by posting some drop-in PHP code (to be used either in a plug-in or a functions.php file). Today, I find out that someone used that code to build a plug-in that's now available on the WordPress repository. I'm a fan of open source and collaboration ... but only when done properly. The plug-in in question contains no attribution remarks whatsoever.

Since I never explicitly said "this code is licensed under the GPL... yadda yadda yadda" when I wrote my message to the Hackers mailing list, I'm not going to hunt the guy down for failing to credit me. But this situation did get me thinking ...

What if someone built a plug-in based on code they found on this site and failed to credit the original author?

Short of calling out the GPL (or BSD, or X-11) every time we post a code snippet, what can we do to protect contributors to the site? Does the Creative Commons license at the bottom of the page apply to code, or just to the prose questions/answers/comments on the site?

Who, if anyone, can a contributor turn to if they find their code has been used in an open source (or even a proprietary) system without acknowledging their contrbution?

Answer 1

Hi @EAMann and others:

I've contemplated this question a lot before you raised it and I think this answer is not only is it not something you can really do anything about, I don't think it is something we want to discourage.

Writing code is just one piece of execution; the fact they put up a plugin where you didn't shows they are executing more effectively (note, I struggle with execution all the time, so I'm keenly aware of my own shortcomings in this area.) Remember they also have to document and support a plugin which you do not have to do just by writing the code. So even though I know it feels bad in the gut, I think it's a good thing that it happens.

(As an aside, I hate going to the websites of people who are asking really n00b questions here and on LinkedIn's WordPress group only to find their site boasting about what experts they are. But I digress...)

Another way to look at it is, how are you harmed? If they published something and attributed you and then it failed you might be served as a defendant in a lawsuit (stranger things have happened.) But if they didn't mention you, how can it affect you? Unless of course they competed with you for a project and they won while you lost. But that's so unlikely, and if you know it then maybe you can mention it to the lost client? (dunno if I would though.) And if they get business using your stuff for which you were not in competition, be happy for them and glad you could help! If they didn't attribute you, karma's a bitch and it'll likely come around to bite them.

What's more, I think you'll find that you've learned a tremendous amount from others writings and I'll bet you've written code based on the writings of others. You learn from them and then you internalize the knowledge and you often forget where you learned about it. I know I learn a ton from others but rarely remember where I learned if it's been more than a few months since learning.

The real issue here is if we started to police everyone's usage of code here then we'd all have to be careful of using others code when we were not even realizing we were. I really don't want to have to start worrying about whether I can use a certain technique or not based on where I first read about it.

Better that we all stand on the shoulders of giants and "rise the tide that floats all boats." If you want to claim a spot for your own that is based on your code, such as the publishing of a specific plugin, then by all means do it first and/or do it best. Beyond that maybe you can also learn to take joy in the fact that you've become a very effective catalyst?

Or you can stop publishing code here and then nobody can steal it. But we definitely don't want to see that happen because your contributions are great and loosing you wouldn't really benefit anyone, least of all you. :)

JMTCW.

-Mike

Answer 2

Actually, I take an opposite approach: use the most liberal terms possible and trust the user to do the right thing. If someone "makes money" or otherwise benefits from something I posted freely on the web in my spare time and still felt it wasn't worth mentioning my name — or hiring me at twice my current paygrade to make them even more money — then more power to them. I doubt I'd ever be famous for any SE answers even if they did attribute, though infamous might be a diff'rent story...

To do this, I specifically disclaim copyright on code in my SO profile, quoted below. CC-BY-SA requires attribution in the "manner specified", and that manner is particularly incongruent for software. (It fits fine for a blog or other discussion site on the web, however.)

All original code I post on this site is placed in the public domain. This does not cover code available on other sites and only linked from my posts. If it breaks, you get to keep both pieces. (I do this so you can easily copy the code without worrying about the attribution requirements of the CC license. If you still want to attribute, that is always appreciated!)

I retain copyright on all non-code; however, feel free to use under fair-use or any other provision of copyright law (as you may anyway), including the license mandated by SO (bottom of page), or contact me.

Please don't attribute any magical properties to this wording, it's entirely made up on the spot — and I did that on purpose. In some jurisdictions, you can't disclaim copyright and other subtleties; however, my understanding is an explicit statement of intent does carry some legal weight.

More importantly, I'm explicitly telling users (as opposed to their lawyers) what I expect them to do, and this is why I wrote it freehand: anyone with a tidbit of knowledge in copyright knows this doesn't even approach a license and thus if it ever really mattered in a situation where CC-BY-SA was unusable, they should contact me. But for the vast majority of cases, it won't matter.

Answer 3

Licensing of snippets is elephant in the room for WP community. When mechanics of GPL are a bother it is suddenly easier to ignore them. How many blogs (including high-profile) strive on re-posting snippets that are at best under some blanket license from developer, but usually unspecified - effectively "all rights reserved"...

Applying to here this is also quite messy subject. I assume that CC license applies to all user-submitted content (I neither see code excluded or option to override license for your submissions). And it is explicitly incompatible with GPL.

So something as innocent as asking question about your public plugin and using snippet from an answer sets you up for both breaking CC from this site and GPL from WP.