copyright modified javascript portion of Action Wizard?

[samanatham40207]

Hi,

If I modified the javascript code for an existing, free action wizard offered by Adobe Acrobat, do I need permission from Adobe to copyright the derivative of the original action wizard?  It appears all of their free programs are copyrighted per https://www.adobe.com/legal/terms.html but it is unclear whether I can still copyright the parts I modified to create a derivative which is significantly different than Adobe's original work.

I realize no one is a lawyer on this forum but if anyone can point me in the right direction, that would be really appreciated.  I have researched the internet but have not found a clear answer.

Note the Action Wizard was made in Adobe Acrobat X.

Thanks.

S. Morgan

[JR Boulay]

You should have as many answers as there are countries with different laws.

[samanatham40207]

USA

[gkaiseril]

It appears you might only be able to claim parts of the code are copyrighted.

There are number of items that will need to be documented if you will ever go to court to prove your right to copyright your code. It would be best to discuss this with an IP, Intellectual Property, attorney. These attorneys have taken specialized classes and usually have passed a federal exam.

[samanatham40207]

TY for your answer.

[Joel_Geraci]

What is your goal in copywriting the code? If your plan is to make it commercially available, I'd tread very lightly on anything that was originally Adobe code... see section 3.5 of your link. The Action could be classified as a Sample File. If you understand what the code does, I'd rewrite it from scratch... but even then, you yourself have very few protections since you're already admitted that it's a derivative work.

[samanatham40207]

TY for your answer.