Copyright Policy

What is Copyright?

You can find a full definition of copyright on the U.S. Copyright office website and how it relates to international copyright relations. Here is a short description:

Copyright is a legal concept that gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it. The copyright holder has the right to choose if anyone else can use, adapt or resell their work and have the right to be credited for that work.

Only the copyright holder of a work may do the following:

  • Make copies of the work and distribute them
  • Create derivative works or alter the work in any way
  • Sell the work in either it's original version or in an altered form

The creator of a work retains copyright to it even if they don't expressly tell you so.

One-Strike Violations

One Strike Violations include, but are not limited to:

  1. Uploading a file that is not your own creation, and that is being sold on CodeGrape or elsewhere
  2. Uploading a file that is not your own creation, and that is being distributed freely elsewhere WITH a license that prohibits resale or redistribution.
  3. Uploading a file that contains a virus or other malware

Penalty: Any author responsible for such a violation will have their account DISABLED immediately. Any cash on the account will be held indefinitely and the user will not be eligible for a new account on the site.

Appeals: Appeal can be made for reinstatement by contacting support to discuss the matter, however any author seeking reinstatement must provide sufficient cause.

Warning Violations

In recognition that some areas of copyright are a little grey, these violations have a less severe penalty. Nonetheless they will lead to action if the author does not respond and/or take appropriate measures.

Warning Violations include, but are not limited to:

  1. Uploading a file that is the output of a tutorial
  2. Uploading a file that is not your own creation, and that is being distributed freely elsewhere WITHOUT an appropriate license.

Penalty: A warning will be issued by email. Offending files will be immediately removed from CodeGrape and earnings from those files held indefinitely. Further violations will results in escalation in the penalty.

Appeals: Appeal can be made for a file by contacting support to discuss the matter.

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