Thanks, everyone for all the great comments - especially on the copyright
issue. The last thing I want to do is become legal fodder for some
overzealous copyright holder. :)
I've got a question, though: how do all these freelance authors of "desktop
themes" for Windows get by with doing what they're doing without being sued
right and left by the copyright holders?
If you go to Tucows' Free Themes website, for example, there are hundreds
and hundreds of Windows themes, many of which use copyrighted images and/or
logos. (Star Trek, movie stars, even the Mac OS logo).
Is it that the copyright owners don't want to waste the time and money? Do
they consider it free advertising and let it alone? Or is it that no one's
really noticed yet?
More specifically, if no one's gone after Tucows (and there IS a Calvin and
Hobbes desktop theme there, by the way), what are the chances they're going
to notice a tiny Newton website?
I'm not trying to weasel around copyright law here. I just wonder if maybe
this particular application does qualify as "fair use" since it's free, for
personal use only and does not deprive the copyright holder of any revenue
(like a pirated MP3 would).
Put another way: if I trace a Pepsi logo onto a piece of paper, have I
violated copyright?
KAI
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