[G1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sha.goyjo:
Here at the Dream section of XDA forums, we get up to a lot of shenanigans, and believe we can put pretty much anything we want on our phones. While it's mostly true, it's not necessarily so. Due to recent developments over a small theming SNAFU with Palm, Inc (sorry palm, I don't have a rights reserved key on my keyboard), it is my intention to try and explain what exactly is "copyright infringement" and what constitutes "fair use" (IE the company can't do anything about it). In case you are wondering, as a law student and a long term member of the Free Software Foundation, and an avid reader of law journals, I feel at least a tiny bit qualified to de-mystify the situation

First though, a brief legal note. By product, I mean ANYTHING that a individual or company has created and copyrighted. This could be as small as an image, hell, ONE TEXT FILE OR EVEN THEIR NAME! Do not get slapped with a huge fine because you think that changing a thing a little bit will make it okay.

So now, on to the explanations.

So first, things that ARE DEFINITELY COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT:

1. Selling an exact copy of somebody else's product under your name for money.

2. Giving away an exact copy of somebody else's product under your name for free.

3. Selling an exact copy of somebody else's product under their name for money.

4. Giving away an exact copy of somebody else's product under their name for free.

5. Using a company's trademark improperly or without their consent.

Note that until a cease an desist order is filed BY A LAW OFFICE you have not been accused of copyright infringement. Also note that being accused is not the same as being convicted. If you are accused of copyright infringement for something that is not such, file an injunction against the company, or charge them with harassment. Just because they say that they are in the right does not mean that they are.

Now, some things that are probably NOT copyright infringment:

1. Basing a theme off of the look of somebody else's OS (Fair use parody clause) (NOTE: this is what we do when we make an iPhone or Palm or WM theme)

2. Basing an application off of the idea of somebody else's application without using their code (Fair use parody clause)

3. Using somebody else's code PURELY for non-profit research (Fair use research clause) (NOTE: this is what we do when we use the hero framework)

4. Using somebody's trademark or copyright for the purpose of reporting, criticizing, evaluating, or otherwise speaking about a product from a non-partial, non-income-garnering standpoint. (Also the fair use act)

5. Basing any image or theme or OS or app off of the "look" of another thing of the same or different type (Fair use parody clause)

6. Basing any image or theme or OS or app off of the "function" of another thing of the same or different type (Fair use parody clause) (NOTE: this does not take into account applicable patents. While I think software patents are retarded, and innefectually progress stifling, they do exist. If someone big charges you with a patent violation SEEK LEGAL AID)

I've only really touched the tip of the iceberg, if you want a better idea, look at these links.

US fair use act

Bitlaw on the fair use act

If you want to see the illegal BS that companies sometimes SAY is what your rights are, look here:

http://www.palm.com

/us/company/trademark.html

If you have more questions, please just ask.