Why a copyright notice in the VBA procedures

I received a nice e-mail today from Jack Stockton:

Why such a big copyright notice in your sample code?
There is really nothing that is special and not available form many other sources.
It is one thing to put your name in the code, but it is hardly copyright material.

  • For one thing, when I started the site years ago, there were not as many sources of information as today.
  • I doubt that you will find everything found here in one, easily searchable location.
  • A lot of code available on certain other sites has been copied from sites such as this one.  Even more of a reason to have a notice.  If people actually respected where content came from, it wouldn’t be as necessary.
  • Although there are pretty basic functions that you can find easily by searching, there are also some that you will not find elsewhere and have taken considerable amounts of time to figure out…  With well over 200 posts on a variety of MS Access subjects, I doubt it is all easily found elsewhere.  Perhaps sites that merely repost other website’s content.
  • This header also ensure, that one can easily remember the source.
  • You’ll notice that I put no restriction on usage whatsoever (none of this personal use only…), so I think asking to keep the source where you got the info from isn’t so much to ask.

This is a site I developed on my spare time to try and help out others, free of charge (I assume the cost of the website, hosting, … and don’t have advertising, pop-ups, malware, third-party tracking cookies, …). If asking someone to keep a header in a module (that realistically no other person will ever see but the developer) is such an inconvenience…! Really, this is what you consider a problem worthy of an e-mail. Life must be quite boring for you.

It is exactly this type of e-mail, when simply trying to help others, that makes me be on the verge of just shutting down my site altogether.  Amazing how in one broad statement you can degrade an entire site, thousands of hours of work…  What is the expression: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”.  You could learn something from that saying.  Actually, you could learn a lot from it!!!

Thanks for the support Jack.  Instead of criticizing others, feel free to create your own site and do better, it could only help the Access community at large!  But then again it is much easier to criticize for no real reason.

— Little did I know Jack was an MVP. So this is how one MVP supports another. Says a lot about a person! —

7 responses on “Why a copyright notice in the VBA procedures”

  1. Sanda

    Please, Please Ignore the Critics.
    Some people, no matter what you do, are not going to be for you. Even if you changed, met all their demands and did everything they asked, they would still find something wrong. I’ve learned that we can all save a lot of heartache and pain by learning to ignore those critical voices. You don’t need those people’s approval. You don’t have to have them cheering you on. They may try to make you look bad, but in the hearts of people like us thousands of miles away across the Atlantic from Africa, we appreciate your work and timeless efforts.

    You have helped me answer questions at different forums and run to this site very often to get help. If you shut it down then you have allowed a NOBODY like Jack to have control over you and the work you have put so much efforts into.

    Please feel free to contact me by my email and I will be willing to make contributions to your hosting cost. Please, and please ignore Scot and like you said, only failures go around criticizing others but they themselves have nothing whatsoever to show to the public.

    1. admin Post author

      Thank you for your kind words. I truly appreciate getting the feedback I have receive (publicly and privately) relating to my website. Seeing how many people actually value my work, this website and are able to learn from it is very rewarding.

  2. shaji han

    Your website has been a very helpful website for me. And I want to express my gratefulness for the extensive effort you have put into this site.

    I believe that for every one of these Jacks, there are thousands (if not more) that appreciates your work. I have never added a comment before, but felt compelled this time. Your generosity is most appreciated, and I am sure there are many people who will concur.

    Thank You, Daniel.

  3. Bill Mosca

    Daniel

    I would take what Jack said with a grain of salt. I know exactly how much time it takes to buy a domain, set up a site, put together valuable information and then keep it up all year around because I’ve done it.

    Let the trolls play elsewhere. You have a lot of fans even if they never tell you. Shutting down because of some rude guy is not fair to the many who go to you for code, read your posts in forums and learn from what you have so graciously shared.

    Your MVP friend,
    Bill

    1. admin Post author

      Thanks Bill. I guess Jack caught me on an off day and I just wasn’t in the mood for someone’s criticism.

  4. JOhn Ochoa

    I’m late for this conversation and I don’t know what the criticisms of this JACK were, but I want to tell you that I am very grateful for your work and since I have visited this page I have admired you for your dedication and support to others.
    A shuffle from Colombia