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How web design programs let users edit HTML elements and gives CSS? Do they have a permission(license) for that?

The question is about HTML5 and CSS licensing. I know we can use them in our websites but i wonder that design programs let users design elements(input, a, button) and take the CSS code. So,this is the question. Do they have any license about HTML5 and CSS for commercial use? Because I think they are selling them indirectly.(it can be right or wrong i do not know that i am asking that)

For example,

What if i want to create a program that let users edit designs(css) of html elements, components by selecting them with names(like "choose input field") and sell code, design? So, in that case is there a license should i get from somewhere?

mrbiyik
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    I’m voting to close this question because this is really a question for Law SE - I would disagree that "they are selling them indirectly"; if that premise is incorrect, then the question is off-topic here. – Philip Kendall Dec 15 '21 at 11:29
  • I said "i think" I did not say yes they are. That is the question. I do not know whether it is right or wrong. If you disagree can you explain why? – mrbiyik Dec 15 '21 at 11:40
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    Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking. – Community Dec 15 '21 at 12:04
  • @mrbiyik Comments are not a place to answer questions; I stand by my assertion that this question is off-topic for Open Source SE and should be closed here. You are welcome to repost it on Law SE - if you do, please delete this one. – Philip Kendall Dec 15 '21 at 12:20
  • Thank you Philip but you did not say why you are disagree. I am coming from stackoverflow, lets see which platform will answer my question. – mrbiyik Dec 15 '21 at 12:27
  • Some related questions are https://opensource.stackexchange.com/q/5478/50, https://opensource.stackexchange.com/q/8058/50, https://opensource.stackexchange.com/q/9327/50. Though I do understand from your comments that you seem to be asking where the boundary between "user-created output" and "program-supplied boilerplate" lies, in a WYSIWYG Web-editor context. – apsillers Dec 15 '21 at 17:05
  • "Let's say the user logged into the editor and then saw the html elements in the menu, for example the button, the input field, etc. He chose one, dragged it to the editor and designed it using the editor and got the code (html, css). But he did all this by paying. Is this possible?" So these design programs are selling html elements and css code or we should look at the case from different perspective like they are selling the editor? – mrbiyik Dec 15 '21 at 17:19

3 Answers3

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The programmes don't take any code and modify that on their own. They work in this sense like a text editor which also doesn't need a license to edit a text. It's the user who feeds it data to take care whether they are allowed to do what they do.

HTML and CSS as standards are open standards. If your question is about that, it would be a duplicate as it was asked and answered here.

planetmaker
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  • Thank you for your answer. Can you explain your idea more detailed? What does it mean take the code and modify? Yes they are like a editor but they are using "html,css, input, button" words for attract people to buy their products. – mrbiyik Dec 15 '21 at 10:21
  • I really do not know this case is about this question. – mrbiyik Dec 15 '21 at 10:35
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If the user just selects RGBA color values, size dimensions, etc., then mapping these user specifications onto a set of style attributes and HTML like

.myButtonStyle {
    height: 80px;
    background-color: rgba(255, 0, 0, 1)
}

<button class=myButtonStyle>User wrote this text</button>

probably does not cause the program to generate novel copyrightable output beyond the user's own input.

Under the copyright-law concept of the merger doctrine, when a concept that is so simple it can only be expressed in a limited number of ways, those expressions are not copyrightable. There are a very limited number of ways to express a button in HTML, and even fewer ways to specify its color and size dimensions in CSS. The program's selection of height: and background-color: attribute names to prefix the user's input isn't a decision that is sufficiently creative to merit copyright protection over the program's contribution to the output. Thus, no license is necessary, because there is no copyright-protected expression to license to anyone.

If the program instead provides a sufficiently creative template file, with a structure complex enough to merit copyright protection, into which the user has simply dropped in a bit of text and images, then the resulting output might be a derivative of the program's original template. In that case, the program would need to specify how the resulting output may be modified and redistributed m (One expects the permissions granted will be fairly broad, or else not many people will choose to use the output of such a program -- it is for this exact reason the FSF discourages use of the GPL for template files.)

apsillers
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According to the W3C:

W3C Royalty-Free (RF) Licensing Requirements:

"...may not be conditioned on payment of royalties, fees or other consideration"

So, yes HTML|CSS has license(ROYALTY FREE).

mrbiyik
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