There is a a program that I want to use that is released in two (fully copyrighted) ways:
- Stable binary form
- Beta release, mostly-stable binary form that is easy to derive the source (uses jars) (this version is free)
Question:
- Can I legally download the beta version, make the necessary changes to work properly on my machine, recompile and then use the software?
- If yes to question 1, can I then explain to people I work with how to do the same thing so that they too can use the product?
In no way would I be giving them the modified software, but rather distributing instructions how to modify it. The original download would still come from the copyright owner.
I believe I have done my due diligence searching these and google’s forums, but as always, if you find a duplicate question, please let me know (and point to where it is found). It seems odd to me that this hasn’t been covered yet.
6
You need to know how the application and associated source code are licensed.
Keep in mind that copyright != license. They’re related but different.
Some licenses such as BSD, MIT, GPL will allow you to do as you suggest. Other licenses will not.
So the answer to your first question depends upon the license of the project.
The answer to your second question depends upon your jurisdiction and to a degree the license. Explaining how to reverse engineer proprietary code is usually prohibited by commercial licenses so you could run into problems there. The same explanation on open source software isn’t an issue.
2
Are you “copying” the part of the program or all of it? Is your program/app when compiled have any resemblance on the original? Is it a GUI or just plain library code? I think you can easily get around when you’re just using part of it, and if your app does not resemble or function the same way as with the original.
Licenses varies so you better try to consider that when re-using code, even big Companies get sued for this kind of matter.
My suggestion is, if there’s a app or source code that functions the same way with that you are trying to re-use using Apache License then better go with that.
Otherwise, a “hacky” approach is to just copy parts of it, ideas and patterns from the code. If it’s not patented then I don’t think they can sue you for looking at their code, and creating your own code out of that code you saw.