Not sure if this would be the best place to ask this, but let's try.
I finished my PCB which is originally based on Nick Gammon's code from here. However, since my wiring is slightly different (SW vs HW SPI), and plus I have different user interaction mechanism than he have (I use TFT screen + some additional buttons and joystick) I had to modify his code (some stuff removed) and to add some additional pieces, so I was just wondering about one part in sketch, if this should be OK (so that people don't get confused):
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
**and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, ** subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
The software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied,
including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular
purpose and noninfringement. In no event shall the authors or copyright holders be liable
for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an action of contract,
tort or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with the software
or the use or other dealings in the software.
*/
My understanding is that what I want to do should be fine, but I'm not an expert in this copyright thing at all, so just wanted to hear some additional opinion by you guys.
Your best bet is to understand what someone else’s code does then write your own - That way you become a better more clever person and importantly can maintain and when needed upgrade your device.
You need then only worry about copy right only libraries.
vsavic:
I finished my PCB which is originally based on Nick Gammon's code from
If the modified program is only for your own personal use then all that matters is whether you have permission to use the code and, almost certainly you do. If the code is just for your own use then, as nobody else will ever see the code it hardly matters what it contains.
It is only if you plan to distribute the modified program for other people to use that it becomes necessary to consider additional obligations imposed by copyright conditions applying to the pieces of code you have copied from other people.
And in that case you need to ensure that everyone reading your Github material is aware of the copyright requirements of the authors of any code that you include in your project.
Usually the purpose of OpenSource copyright conditions is to prevent a future user from claiming that the code is a restricted commercial product. However you need to read the terms carefully as there are a few variants in common use.
If you are planning to make a commercial product including some OpenSource code then I suggest you get professional legal advice to ensure that your own Intellectual Property is properly protected.