I'm engaged in a project currently that made more sense to run on a panelPC instead of the PLC/HMI that I would normally spec. I'm writing the program and UI in Python and I want it to have a familiar feel for the operators who are accustomed to my C-more HMI programs. So my first instinct was to grab the graphics from the C-more software to use in my python program. But before I go down that road I want to make sure it's legal. I mean the graphics are posted on the AD website for download so it seems they have a pretty lax policy about it, but but I can't seem to find any documented policy on it at all. Is there one? Do I need to pay some sort of license or royalty? Or was it enough that I bought the software?
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Did you look at the EULA in the help menu of the software?
Some graphics are from Symbol Factory. I would expect they are copyrighted. -
In general it may be wise to look for explicit permission, like a Creative Commons mark, before using items created by others.Comment
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The C-more software is copyrighted. This means that all contents of the software are copyright of AutomationDirect.com. This does include graphics, fonts, look and feel, etc.If you have an urgent issue, please contact AutomationDirect's Technical Support team.
AutomationDirect.com Technical Support: 1(800) 633-0405 or (770) 844-4200 Email Tech SupportComment
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Thanks. Is there a process for obtaining permission to use these copyrighted graphics or is it just a no-no out of the gate?Originally posted by Do-more PE View PostComment
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I would contact tech support and see what their answer is about that.If you have an urgent issue, please contact AutomationDirect's Technical Support team.
AutomationDirect.com Technical Support: 1(800) 633-0405 or (770) 844-4200 Email Tech SupportComment
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At time of writing, no, I hadn't looked at it. I was at home for the weekend and the software was at work. But I just now looked at it and it seems to be written more from the perspective of not distributing the C-more software to more than one user. I didn't see anything expressly forbidding the use of the graphics outside of C-more. But then again, I'm not a lawyer and I probably skimmed over the gotcha without realizing it. There is a separate "copyright" section of the file which only references the help file.Originally posted by BobT65 View Post
To be clear, just because I couldn't find any prohibition in the EULA doesn't mean I take that as authorization to proceed. I subscribe to the presumption that it's not "OK" to use these graphics until I hear it from an AD rep (I will call today). If there is in fact no written prohibition, it seems like there should be, and maybe AD should look into it, because...
Until today I didn't realize that the Symbol Factory was not AD software. It's an embedded software from Reichard/Software Toolbox and to buy the standalone version costs 6x what C-more costs. I did not find any copyright/licensing topics in the help file for Symbol Factory either. If there is no specific wording in the C-More EULA to protect the Reichard software they're using, they might be liable for damages as a result. Or maybe not. As I said, I'm not a lawyer and I have no idea what I'm talking about. All I know is to assume worst case until told otherwise.Originally posted by BobT65 View Post
On another note, the standalone Symbol Factory software is more up-to-date than the embedded version in C-More. The graphics look better, there are more features (most of them not needed if staying within the confines of C-More) and it looks like there might be more graphics too. If I can't use the graphics from C-more I'll probably just end up just buying that. It would suck to spend $600 on software that I have already paid for, but the good news is that there is without a doubt at least one legal method to achieve my goal.
https://www.softwaretoolbox.com/stor...mpage_1783.asp
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