Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Ohio

Independent creation and copyright law
I came up with an idea for a fee-based website that would give students access to a database program and have already started working on it. However, I recently discovered that a software program, very similar-if not exact-, already exists. This software program is available on CD and does exactly what I was planning to have my website do. My question is: am I infringing copyright rights of those who created the software? Are there any other legal issues I should consider? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Asked on 7/18/00, 10:10 pm

Charles Aspinwall Charles S. Aspinwall, J.D., LLC

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Re: Independent creation and copyright law

You may not legally use copy protected property [copyrighted] without a license from the copyright-holder. That's what copyrights are for.

I suggest you develop another idea for a website. The penalities for copyright infringement can be severe.

Answered on 9/13/00, 5:58 pm

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