[BNM] - Legal/copyright question

[Max Williams]

hi ian - thanks - replies inline

2009/7/23 Ian Betteridge <ianbetteridge at me.com>

> It depends really on what kind of thing it is :)
>
> There's no copyright on ideas, so it has to be a tangible thing - a design,
> some code, some words, an image, or something like that. Some kinds of
> ideas
> can be patented, but that's a whole different kettle of fish (and can be a
> massive pain in the backside).


 yeah, it would be a design or an image.

>
>
> The classic kind of proof that you were the originator of something would
> be
> to print it out and send it to someone registered, dated post - keep the
> envelope sealed, of course.

that's what got me thinking - whether gmail was a more modern version of
this.  Is the above actually legal proof of anything, anyway?  I always
wondered if that was just a myth - it must be possible to fake.

>
>
> Email would do the trick too, but might be seen by a court as easier to
> fake, so could be weaker evidence that you'd created something (rather than
> someone else creating it).

I'd argue it's less easy to fake, since google, who presumably would be
viewed as an impartial third party, could look up the mail in their
records.  Whereas in the letter example you could theoretically open the
letter, change the contents, and close it again without leaving any
evidence. Convincing a court of that might be a different story though.



>
>
> On 23/7/09 14:04, "Max Williams" <toastkid.williams at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Legal question:  If i'd created 'a digital thing' and wanted to protect
> > myself against someone else claiming it as their idea, would it be
> > sufficient for me to send that thing to myself via gmail?  So that, if it
> > came to it, later on i could point to the email? (and if required claim
> that
> > google could verify it by checking their own mail records?)
>
>
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