I was just thinking about using some of the source code that belongs to some website. Is there any legal issues regarding the use of source code in html?
HTML source code is automatically copyrighted upon creation, just the same as any other creative work.
From a legal perspective, I would suspect it would depend on the jurisiction. In theory, I think it would be copyrighted, and you can definilty put a copyright statement inside the source but I think it might be hard enforce / to win a case in law. The written content would definitly be applicable to copyright, and source code in general is subject to copyright, but it's pretty likely code that is viewable by anyone will be copied by someone and used somewhere.
In the US source code can definitely be copyrighted. I forget the name of the case that stands for this proposition. I used to know it when I taught Copyright Law. -Gene
Depends on how unique it is and how valuable it is to the creator. You could contact the creator and give him credit for that portion of code. I had some code "borrowed" from one of my sites and I was getting emails from executives looking for escorts in Europe. I thought it was funny that they stole my contact form script and left my email address in it.
It highly depends on what is contained in the code. Algorithims and program logic cannot be copyrighted (though they can be trademarked). Layout also is not copyrightable, though images used in the layout are. Any content or code comments would certainly be copyrighted. If I look at a page's code to determine how to do CSS positioning, there is no infringement. That is basic program logic. Everybody that wants to do CSS positioning has to use the same set of attributes as everybody else (though they may not all implement it the same way). If I look at a javascript to figure out how a site creates a special effect, I probably still not violating copyright (though I could be depending on several factors), but I might be violating a patent. There are many cases: Aharonian v. Gonzales, N.D. Cal., No. C04-5190: code is copyrightable, but that if near-identical code is created independently then there is no infringement - on appeal Whelan v. Jaslow: program structure and organization are copyrightable expression. The Copyright Office disagreed. Lotus v. Borland: courts said menu interfaces are copyrightable, but the appeals court disagreed. What does all this mean? Well, code is copyrightable, but I don't think anybody really understands what parts of code are actually copyrightable. The best bet is to never straight copy anything, but if you can figure out on your own how to recreate the results then you are probably fine.