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Tracey here again. I consulted a lawyer a while back on an issue totally
unrelated to technical communication, and this is what I found out:
Just because someone copyrights something, doesn't necessarily mean they
own exclusive rights to it. If you go to court, the plaintiff has to
prove two of the following:
that their copyrighted material is unique,
that your use of it caused them financial distress, and
that a REASONABLE person can mistake your item/product for theirs
(misrepresentation).
Why I didn't think to apply that to technical documentation, I'll never
know. Was it early in the morning or something?
Thanks!!
<<Based on my reading of current copyright law, a design has
to be truly distinct before it qualifies for copyright protection;>>
