Your Original Work May Still Be Stepping On Copyrighted Toes

One developer recently released a snippet of CSS code that features an animated Darth Vader. The character has a light saber that moves back and forth. Darth Vader looks like a cartoon or anime character rather than a more realistic version that you can see in the movies. The developer wanted to show off this animated effect just to amuse other developers and to see what they thought.

A fellow programmer who took a look at this Darth Vader animation liked it and commented that they thought it would be a fun effect for a website. One other person commented that this animation could be a license violation for the Star Wars characters, and the original developer could find themselves facing legal action if they were to post it on a site without the express permission of the trademark holder for Darth Vader.

Even if a piece of code is original, using the copyrighted or trademarked design in order to create a lookalike puts one on unsteady legal ground. It is obvious that the programmer has made a Darth Vader character, and this likeness is not free for anyone to use. It is also not free for anyone to post and try to make money off of it. Permission or paid licensing is required for all trademarked or copyrighted material.

While it might be fun to design a Darth Vader animation, it may not be a wise thing to do. Most coders in the community recognize that copyright or trademark infringement is serious. It is unlikely that an individual would be able to get permission to use the likeness of Darth Vader on their own website. A person who wants to make fun animated effects might be better off using things that are in the public domain.

It is also a good idea to research which characters are trademarked or copyrighted before trying to recreate them. This would save a whole host of trouble in the first place. A programmer could create their own animated character of someone else that is recognizable, such as a public political figure or celebrity. For more information click here https://codepad.co/snippet/darth-vader-css.