Re: [PHP-WEBMASTER] Request for special permission to use copyrighted content from PHP.net

We won't be serving you with any stupid legal mumble jumble.
We also don't care if your website/documentation looks familiar/the same.

Just don't try to impersonate us and all is fine.

(this is as official 'go-ahead' as you can get :))

-Hannes

On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 11:26 AM, Daniel A.C. Martin <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hello Hannes,
>
> First of all, thank you for the response.
>
> The website I'm talking about producing for my project's documentation
> will look very similar to PHP.net. (Although I will try to make it clear
> that it isn't actually PHP.net through explicit notices and an altered
> colour scheme.) So what I'm proposing might go beyond what Facebook and
> phpsysinfo did. (Please note that I'm ignorant as to how much content
> they used.)
>
> If at all possible I'd like to avoid doing a lot of work on a website
> only to end up on the wrong end of a cease and desist order and having
> to take it down. Also, I would hate to offend anyone; we're all
> producing free software after all.
>
> Is there any way that I could obtain explicit permission for this, or is
> that impossible due to the the copyright being held by multiple
> individuals? Is this even the correct channel for such an enquiry?
>
> Best regards,
>
>
> Daniel Martin.
>
> On Fri, 2015-03-06 at 10:48 -0800, Hannes Magnusson wrote:
>> I have a vague memories of phpsysinfo or some project like that
>> duplicating our website graphics for its website and output.
>> That did not go well down peoples throats.
>>
>> However, when facebook did the same thing, and even removed our
>> copyright, people don't seem to care at all about it.
>>
>> As long as you keep the copyright notice I think you are fine - but INAL.
>>
>> -Hannes
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 4:33 AM, Daniel A.C. Martin <[email protected]> wrote:
>> > Hello,
>> >
>> > This e-mail is a request for special permission to use some of the
>> > content from PHP.net on another website, specifically a website for a
>> > new, MIT licensed, PHP library.
>> >
>> >
>> > Rationale
>> > =========
>> >
>> > I have written a small PHP library containing data structures which are
>> > designed to be easily interchangeable with the official ones provided by
>> > the SPL.
>> >
>> > Documentation is always important for software libraries but in this
>> > case it is also desirable to achieve as much symmetry as possible
>> > between my library's documentation and the official documentation for
>> > the SPL data structures (PHP.net). In this way users of both sets of
>> > data structures can more easily switch between the two, reinforcing in
>> > their minds that the APIs are, for the most part, compatible.
>> >
>> > To this end I have produced my documentation in the DocBook superset
>> > format used by the PHP project's PhD program. (In fact, I wrote a
>> > collection of scripts to build the PhD source from a set of XML files
>> > which strictly define the API. There's a small chance it may be of use
>> > to extension writers one day.)
>> >
>> > It has since come to my attention that the 'php' output from PhD is not
>> > a complete website and cannot function without files from PHP.net. Also,
>> > whilst PhD and its output is free, the same is not true for those
>> > PHP.net files.
>> >
>> >
>> > My intentions
>> > =============
>> >
>> > It is my intention to take the content from PHP.net and strip it down to
>> > a small subset capable of making the PhD generated manual usable. This
>> > would include the search and comment functionality as well as some of
>> > the CSS files.
>> >
>> > I would then swap out the logo for my own, change some of the colours,
>> > notably the blue navigation bar (probably to green), and include a
>> > notice at the bottom of the page stating that the project is NOT
>> > officially endorsed by the PHP project.
>> >
>> > The copyright notice at the bottom could be changed to read something
>> > like:
>> >         Copyright © 2015 Daniel Martin, 2001-2015 The PHP Group
>> >
>> > The copyright page itself could state that the website files, besides
>> > the manual, are copyright The PHP Group with all rights reserved.
>> >
>> > I understand that the content of PHP.net is copyrighted with all rights
>> > reserved and so ask for special license (to modify and distribute
>> > modified versions) to be granted in this case. Is this something you
>> > would consider? Thanks in advance for your time.
>> >
>> > Best wishes,
>> >
>> >
>> > Daniel Martin.
>> >
>> >
>> > --
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>> > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
>> >
>
>