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Legal Documents & User Agreements
There are several different legal documents / policies that are relevant to users of CodeCogs.com. This page contains summaries of these agreements and details of the official Codecogs.com rates that apply to all contributing developers of this site:
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Depending on how you use the site will depend on which of these document(s) are relevant to you. It is important that you have read and fully understood any document before you agree to it. Below is a summary of the documents and links to the full documentation.
Licensing Policies
We have tried to keep the code distribution system as straightforward and easy to use as possible. However, there are a few points worth bearing in mind if you decide to use our site.
Common sense dictates (and we strongly suggest) that before relying on any pieces of code you downloaded from CodeCogs.com, you thoroughly test it with non-critical data. We take every precaution to provide bug free code and will never knowingly distribute code with undocumented defects that may result in any damage to your data or systems. However, neither Codecogs.com nor Zyba Ltd will be liable for any loss of data, damage, loss of profits or any other loss whilst using our code.
It is your responsibility to ensure that any code you download is fit for your intended purpose. To that end, we suggest that, if possible, you always initially download each piece of code under the General Public License. This will enable you to fully test it’s suitability on one independent machine, without make any financial commitment. Our commercial versions of the code are always identical, except for the replacement of the license agreement in the header of each distributed file.
For the purposes of clarity and avoiding doubt: Any piece of software, which builds upon software components supplied by CodeCogs.com or Zyba Ltd is referred to as 'new work'.
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Licensing
We would like to encourage the free usage of software, according to our view of "share and share alike". This simply means that if you get something for free then you should let other have free access to your derivative products. Moreover we feel that it is unfair to charge (beyond a reasonable distribution fee) for something that you got for nothing. For this reason we have adopted two main licenses:
The type of license that you require depends on your intended purpose. The following sections contain brief descriptions of the licences to help you decide which one applies to you. You should always read the full licence text before downloading any code from CodeCogs.com.
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GNU General Public License (GPL)
This licence is designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software, receive the source code and/or obtain a copy of any relevant source code you need. Furthermore, it gives you the flexibility to change the software, or use pieces of it in new free programs. This license is summarised by the following points:
- CodeCogs.com will not charge for any software downloaded under this license. You may therefore download, modify and test software from CodeCogs.com using this licence.
- You can distribute for free any number of copies of the new work, provided that you also distribute all the source code for the new work and make at least one copy publicly available.
- You must attach a copy of our terms and conditions from the GPL to the head of each source file that you intend to distribute under this licence.
Examples where the free licence is sufficient:
- You download a CodeCogs component to view and test.
- You implement a CodeCogs component into new work that you or your company plan to sell, taking reasonable precautions to ensure that there can never be two or more copies of this code on any other computer, computer system, printout, memory or other storage medium. Therefore:
- You cannot backup (copy) the new work onto disk, memory card or external hard drive.
- You must prevent intra- or inter-net access to the directory/location containing the new work.
- However, you can move the new work onto a disk, memory card or external hard drive - deleting all traces of the new work from the original storage medium or paper copy (try a shredder). Therefore moving the new work from one computer to another is allowed.
- You distribute all the code according to the rules of the GNU GPL, giving the general public access to your source code.
- You use CodeCogs components to build a personal tool that you will only ever use on a single computer; however you don't want to distribute the source code.
- You develop a package for your own use with no commercial benefits to yourself or a company.
CodeCogs Commercial License
The Commercial License gives you greater freedom to create new software that you can distribute in any form you like, using any licensing policy you choose. Most critically, the commercial license allows you to distribute code without source code, helping you to retain trade secrets.
There is only one significant restriction to the Commercial Licence:
- You cannot distribute proprietary software that allows your customers to directly execute either CodeCogs.com components or new work. This includes giving anyone copies of our licensed source code; libraries or DLL files compiled from the source code with instruction of how to call the CodeCogs.com functions; or by providing an interface that permits 3rd party interactive calls from other proprietary software. If you which to do this, each customer much purchase their own Commercial Licence. This restriction does not apply if the code is distributed under the terms of our GPL.
Examples where you will require a Commercial License:
- Selling new work that includes software (or parts thereof) from the CodeCogs library.
- Selling new work that requires the customers to download software from CodeCogs - into which your software links, calls or otherwise executes. For example, you cannot create a system that generates libraries or DLL by downloading fresh copies of components from our website.
- Selling hardware systems that have been built through the use of CodeCogs software, or contain CodeCogs components.
- Doing any form of consultancy work, where you do not which to distribute any new work to your customers.
- Distributing your software internally within your organisation (without public visibility). E.g. you develop new work across two computer systems, but do not wish to provide open source access to the code.
- Copy the new work to a colleague’s computer system - even though they own a Commercial Licenses for the required CodeCogs.com components.
Agreement to Sub-Licence your Code
This agreement is designed to authorise CodeCogs to distribute any material your submit to CodeCogs on your behalf. Furthermore it permits CodeCogs to take action to protect your investment, while also guaranteeing developers continued access and support for the components they license.
At all times, CodeCogs must be able to guarantee the availability of licences, so that customers can expand their operations and reliance on any one component and CodeCogs as a whoel. For this reason, it is imperative that CodeCogs has rights to issue licences and that the licensee only enters into a single agreement with CodeCogs (not each individual contributor). However, at any time, prior to your submitted code being sub-licensed, you may cancel this agreement and withdraw your code.
CodeCogs respects copyright law and needs to be able to pursue individuals who make unauthorised use of the software. Therefore by entering into this agreement, you authorise CodeCogs to pursue offending parties on your behalf.
In summary this agreement does the following:
- Provides CodeCogs with a perpetual licence to your submitted code (including any and all intellectual property rights), which authorising CodeCogs to sub-license your code to others and collect royalities from 3rd parties.
- Guarantees you a percentage of any revenue that CodeCogs receives from the licensing of code you submit.
- Guarantees you a share of any settlement that is obtained as a result of legal action against unauthorised use of the code you submit.
The full text of the contract can be viewed by clicking here.
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User Agreements
All Purchasers (i.e. any person who wants to make requests for other users to develop code via the site's bidding system) and Developers (i.e. a person making bids to develop a piece of code in response to a bid request) must agree to the terms and conditions of a "user licence agreement". There is a slightly different agreement depending on whether you are a Purchaser or a Developer, to reflect the different role that each one plays.
The purpose of these agreements are to clarify the relationship and responsibilities between the Purchaser, Developer and CodeCogs.com. The aim is to make transactions between a developers and requester fair, smooth and as pleasant as possible. These agreements define the responsibilities of each party, the procedures that should be followed, while also detailing what should happen if a problem arises.
In summary the agreements:
- Define the rules that govern a transaction
- Explain how information and copyright are protected
- Define how secure payments are made
- Explain the CodeCogs.com fees
- Explain the procedure for dealing with disputes fairly (i.e. mediation and arbitration)
- Explain the Quality Control (QC) procedures that are in place and how QC is conducted
- Explain cancellation / refund policies and procedures
The Agreements
The full version of each agreement can be viewed by clinking on the correct link below:
It is essential that you have read and understand what you are agreeing to when you use the bidding system as it is a binding agreement. Please take time to read the relevant one.
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Mediation & Arbitration
The rules of Mediation / Arbitration are incorporated into the User agreements outline above. For information purposes a copy of them can also be viewed here
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