Are the actual contents of scripts evaluated before being judged a copies of someone's work? Or not?

[Krillion Hax]

If a process is observed in SL (scripted action) and it is obvious and not unique to methodology, can a different scripted method be determined a copyright violation simply because the end result is similar? And before that item is removed from SL, is the script evaluated for content or is it taken at face value from another competitor? That is what real content creators are, competitors, not thieves.

 

In "Real World" situations, if the method is different, then it is not a violation. i.e. I prepare, cook and serve you bacon and eggs.

 

If I violate a patented or copyrighted method exactly in the preparation, then I am at fault. However, even if that method is similar and debatable, the actual end result - bacon and eggs - are never considered a part of the violation or subject to patent and/or copyright. (baring GM eggs or calling them some trade name end result, such as "McBacon or McEggs")

 

Anyone that claims unique rights to an end result should be looked at very closely.

[Rolig Loon]

That's a tricky question. Many scripts are offered full perm, so you can see their contents and obviously modify them if you wish.  When I write scripts, the only time I make them no mod (thus hiding the code) is when I am putting them in scriptd objects that I have designed for sale as such.  If I write a script for a client, or put a script in an open library, I assume that I am giving anyone a licence to use it.  I retain the copyright, of course, and  put my name and other identifying information at the top and often include an advisory note that asks the user to keep that information in the script.  Some scripters add a Creative Commons license as well.  Once the script is visible and has left my hands, though, I don't worry about who owns it.

In those few cases where I hide the code, things are a bit different. The thing is, there are usually many ways to script the same process.  If you give five scripters the same challenge, we'll all end up with scripts that do pretty much the same thing but look different internally, and we could each copyright our scripts if we chose to.  We're not copying each other.  We work with the same toolbox and we learn from each other but we have slightly different approaches.  If you see what our scripts do but can't see the code itself, you'd never see those differences or even know that the scripts were different..