Support and General Use > Theming and Appearance Customization
Removed themes for copyright reasons
AlexP:
--- Quote from: Llorean on May 30, 2007, 08:39:36 PM ---Actually, as a project, as far as I know the goal is to comply with US copyright law. I don't know when this decision was made, or why US law was chosen, but I don't object to it.
--- End quote ---
Probably because it is the most restrictive, so if we are OK with US law we will be OK with everything. That and the US thinking it can apply its law in other countries.
Cassandra:
I'm not sure that we're operating according to any specific law as such, but for a little context, please bare in mind that the Rockbox project has been cease and desisted in the past. For those that aren't aware, we were asked by representatives of Wizard Software to remove voice files generated using a legally purchased copy of AT&T Naturally Speaking. We weren't at all convinced we were breaking any laws, but the project simply doesn't have the money to cover any legal costs incurred in fighting any potential legal action so the decision was made to comply.
The environment we operate in is very sensitive to IP issues, and it's important that the project be seen to be respecting the intellectual property of others. In making decisions about whether or not to remove material from the wiki, we apply common sense and judgement, which aren't legalistic concepts. If people are going to start rules-lawyering they should be aware that there is a more consistent approach we can take, which is to stop hosting themes entirely.
Chronon:
Cassandra,
Thanks for bringing that up. That does help provide some context to all of this.
I think I understand the basic situation a little better. I have done a little reading up on this -- I am surely not a lawyer. And it seems that these issues are all tried on a case by case basis according to whether or not they satisfy some certain criteria (e.g. the Berne three-step test). Given the individual nature of the way cases are tried and the lack of resources for the project to deal with litigation (whether or not Rockbox is at fault) the only sensible course of action is to give any gray areas a wide berth.
Although, it seems that since themes are essentially a user customizable extension of Rockbox and not intrinsic to its function that it may be okay if they were hosted off site too. Surely it makes the most sense for any themes that are hosted on Rockbox servers to exemplify the ideals of GPL.
As it stands we can define what sort of themes are definitely allowed -- those composed of original graphics arranged in an original layout (and using original or generic text). Deviations from that seem to enter a legally gray area. I agree that it's totally up to the administrators to determine what should be associated with the core Rockbox project.
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