Chas, you can copyright a format. I've just finished months of litigation on that issue.  You can copyright it. However, it's up to the copyright holder to decide whether to enforce their rights or not.  Clearly, MS has chosen not to enforce their rights with regards to .msstyles.  However, just as WinCustomize doesn't allow rips, even if they are merely "derivatives", we won't allow msstyles here unless MS gives us the okay.

I think I agree there.  There are formats within formats.

.iptheme, for instance, is organized by a set of rules described as the INI format.  We copyright the keywords and such in .iptheme as well as each .iptheme file generated by IconPackager (the icon designer owns their icons of course).

Most of this is waaaaay over my head...but I have a question and please don't laugh at how stupid it may sound to you...but some of us didn't really get a chance to even HAVE a computer most of our lives...much less understand the legal complexities of all the stuff that makes it run....

If I take a picture with a digital camera that I bought...play with it with the software program that came with the recharging dock....then save it and mess around with the picture a little more in paint....

does that mean kodak software owns my picture, microsoft owns my picture or do I own my picture...

???

You own your picture, of course. Kodak et al only own the technology that you used to make your image.

Mrs _footsie_

if you really want to go "hmmmmmm" read up on patten law

now that is rather wild and there are so many different directions one can take to either back up rights to own rights or to circumvent someone else's owned rights...

ChasUGC and IPlural

Ok ok ok they're mine muahahahaha all mine I tell you ar ar



was being a little fretty wasn't I?

No I don't copy or use anybody else's photos pictures or poetry.

They're all products of me, my little camera, my little 'puter and my demented mind

what a woild what a woild