Hi,
There is no way to make this quick, so bear with me, please.
I need a good general picture of what I am actually facing with two companies now and will certainly need again within the next couple years in the tools and knowledge to check for copyright compliance. This is a kind of "point me in the right direction" kind of thread. I have a nondisclosure agreement in my situation, so please don't ask about company matters.
The time has come for me to learn how to evaluate coding for originality and copyright reasons. Once in a while I have read a single reply here or brief conversation about it there, but after searching I see the need to start a thread on it. I did not put this in business and law because some of the things in here not related to it and it is more IT.
I know almost nothing about this, so please be patient. Technical help is sought here and not business or law help which are covered by my company. Yes - it is in our industry.
Subject: Checking Copyright Compliance of Coding - Verify that code is not in violation of copyright. (Makes me wonder about software to check compliance and make a copyright all in one)
Questions: Where can I go here at gamedev or online to learn about how to verify the copyright compliance of coding done by me or other coders?
What software, procedures, and documents do you use for this?
How does copyright compliance checking fit into Software Configuration Management or relate to it? (For example, the following year a new version of the software is released with the next year's copyright, so wouldn't SCM have a part in it or implement the check for copyright compliance?)
What team or department of a company should be responsible for checking copyright compliance? (SCM?)
Note:
The core need is to be able to evaluate that the coding which our company will be using is not violating someone else's copyright ( and if so, let us know who the party is so we may attempt to obtain permission to use the coding which is in question if possible.)
We are talking about verifying that coding sent to or from us does not violate someone's copyright in the world for accountability purposes. We do not steal, copy and paste, and hope for the best, okay?
We want to make sure that the coders are not stealing and violating other's copyright to the best of our ability. We want all code used in our software to be legal.
Clinton