YALT (Yet another legal thread)

[kevinthenerd]

The University of Central Florida is a public, state-run institution. They have material on their website that does not require any password to obtain, but they delete it at the end of each semester. Would it be illegal to download this material and use it for a profitable purpose (such as internal training within a company) after the end of the semester?

 

[McGyver]

what are you actually refering to? like the class materials and as such? provide a link and we'll talk more.

 

[kevinthenerd]

I'm afraid to post it because I'm not sure if they actually intended to not password protect it. I don't want to ruin it for those who know about it.

(Edited to protect the secret.)

 

[kevinthenerd]

It's class material that's deleted after semester the class is offered.

 

[dullard]

Government can and does own patents, copyrights, trademarks, etc. Heck, it is a major part of the hidden university economy (they care far more about that than they care about teaching students). I myself have two pending patents that a university filed with my name attached. The government can and will sue you for lost profits if it deems that a productive activity.

So, no, you can't just copy their stuff and sell it for a profit.

You can take what you learned and put it in your own words, giving them proper credit for coming up with the original idea, and use it.

 

[sciencewhiz]

It's probably not a smart idea to sell class materials until after you have your diploma in hand, if at all

 

[kevinthenerd]

I'm not talking about SELLING the materials directly. I was actually considering to use them for in-house on-the-job training.