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That's my totally original table-based page layout, which I created all
by myself. Was I too late? Was this already copyrighted? Am I off to
jail? Or was I the first to use this, and can now go a rampage?
Nah... you can't copyright HTML code, it's a public standard. Same way I
can't copyright a nested macro in WinHelp. Maybe I'm the first one to
nest some WinHelp macros is just such a way, but Microsoft would get a
wee bit peeved if I copyrighted that.
Backpedaling a bit, there's something of a gray area, I suppose. Like if
I write a DLL, that's copyrightable. So does that make something written
in JavaScript copyrightable? That's where I begin to wonder. But I draw
the line at standard HTML. There's no way you could get a copyright on
just implementing HTML in a new way. I hope. Could you imagine? What a
nightmare. "Sorry buddy, you can't use <b> and <i> together. I
copyrighted that."
- Scott M
smiller -at- portal -dot- com
-----------------------------------------
> Creating HTML code is a creative effort, exactly the thing that
> copyright
> laws and the ethical prohibition of plagiarism are meant to protect.
> Copying
> the results of such an effort and claiming them as your own is
> plagiarism.
>
> I emailed the editor, and he replied. His reply consisted mainly of
> quoting
> his own column:
>http://www.mercurycenter.com/columnists/murrell/
>
