David Holmberg Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 Hey! I'm not qiute sure where to post this one but will try it out here In many applications and also on many respected homepages, you can often see windows XP icons being used "freely". That has made me wonder if it's legal to use these icons. I send an e-mail to a company (certified filemaker developers) and they said that they had asked microsoft for permition to use the icons. Is that thay way it works? Are any of you out there using these icons (or any others belonging to another company) and if so, did you get a permition for it, and how did you do it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holmberg Posted March 19, 2005 Author Share Posted March 19, 2005 Hey! I'm not qiute sure where to post this one but will try it out here In many applications and also on many respected homepages, you can often see windows XP icons being used "freely". That has made me wonder if it's legal to use these icons. I send an e-mail to a company (certified filemaker developers) and they said that they had asked microsoft for permition to use the icons. Is that thay way it works? Are any of you out there using these icons (or any others belonging to another company) and if so, did you get a permition for it, and how did you do it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holmberg Posted March 19, 2005 Author Share Posted March 19, 2005 Hey! I'm not qiute sure where to post this one but will try it out here In many applications and also on many respected homepages, you can often see windows XP icons being used "freely". That has made me wonder if it's legal to use these icons. I send an e-mail to a company (certified filemaker developers) and they said that they had asked microsoft for permition to use the icons. Is that thay way it works? Are any of you out there using these icons (or any others belonging to another company) and if so, did you get a permition for it, and how did you do it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comment Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ip/trademarks/gnlguide.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comment Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ip/trademarks/gnlguide.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comment Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ip/trademarks/gnlguide.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Holmberg Posted March 25, 2005 Author Share Posted March 25, 2005 well, that didn't look to good..... Thank you for the link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceJ Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV but from what I can tell the icons they are referring to are those that represent an actual application. Using some of the "looks" from an application doesn't seem to be prohibited unless you are imitating the product. It seems as if you could use the similar button/icons - for example the little house in IE that represents "home" or the XP type green dots with arrows in IE to represent forward and backward. Is this right or will I end up in the pokey complments of Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanley Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 Bruce: I'm not a lawyer either, but my understanding of the Apple v Microsoft lawsuit (where Apple sued Microsoft over the Windows interface) is that "look and feel" is not copyrightable. In other words, the CONCEPT of a "home" icon is free for use. The actual home icon used in a given browser or application is NOT free for use, as it is a copyrightable image. Likewise the "forward" and "backward" arrows used in web browsers (and many FMP setups, as well as in FMP itself.) You'd be hard-pressed to find any two applications using identical arrows, save those made by the same company. In fact, Apple tries (with varying success) to maintain the "look and feel" of an Apple interface across all applications, as directed by the Apple Human Interface Guidelines and other documents. Now, to the previous poster's point. The reason you see buttons and icons from other applications in various FMP solutions is that, generally speaking, they've been stolen. Although it is illegal to do so, it seems to be fairly prevalent in the DIY market - meaning small businesses and individuals - and I can't imagine anyone getting in trouble for absconding the IE "home" button for their FMP DVD cataloguer, so long as it is for their personal use. Once you distribute something, it's another situation entirely. I no longer use icons at all, preferring to go with a text-based interface. There are two reasons why. 1. It takes a lot of time to design icons & buttons that look as good as the ones in an interface like Safari or iTunes, and I'd rather spend my time designing the database. 2. People are used to dealing with text interfaces. The most commonly used computer interface in the world is the ATM. If people can deal with that, they can deal with any text interface, so long as it is well-designed and logical. My 5 cents. -Stanley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanley Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 On the subject of graphics & icons, FileMaker has just released a set, called the "Graphics Pack." Not the prettiest things on earth, and the release is typically vague, but I'd imagine they are free to use, once you've acquired the package. (Some) more detail is here: http://www.filemakeroffer.com/gpq2/new/?ovmkt=O5M3PJVLTCEPQ3H8P64LI5S368 -Stanley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceJ Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 The most commonly used computer interface in the world is the ATM. If people can deal with that, they can deal with any text interface, so long as it is well-designed and logical. : I'm having the urge to put the buttons on the edge of the monitor's frame and then have Text and arrows that don't actually line up with the buttons. I'm also imagining leaning out my car window in the rain to punch at the screen! Ahhh... I think I can also reproduce that lovely rewarding sound of the machine churning up preparing to spit out the money... now that's a great feeling. I just have to figure out how to get my PC to spit $20 bill out of the cd drive and I've got the perfect application. :yay: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldfogey Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Don't forget the reports that are unreadable because you haven't replaced the ink cartridge for five years. : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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