Legal issues in using MS Calendar Ctrl in distributed copy?

  • Thread starter Thread starter eric
  • Start date Start date
E

eric

Hello,

I am currently working on an Access 2K application that
utilizes the MS Calendar Control (MSCal.OCX) that comes w/
access. Will I run into copy right/legal problems if I
distribute this application commercially?

Any input is greatly appreciated.

Eric
 
since the calendar is part of the ms-access install, then you just have to
make sure your users install the calendar when they install ms-access.

Note tat just copying the mscal control and registering may not work. Tons
of programs you install and use on your computer will install activeX
controls. However, there is a licensing scheme built into these controls,
and thus they cannot always be copied to another computer. You need thus to
purchase the developer edition of that particular control along with
re-distribution rights (other wise,the control will not work on other
pc's)..

So, you can't distribute the mscal.ocx, but you can certainly request that
your users make sure it is installed from the office cd.

If you are using the developer edition of ms-access, then you CAN
distribute the mscal as part of your install package (and the installer will
even register the control for you).

If you are not using the developer edition of office, then the above fact of
having a calendar installed is beyond your control. Many users will NOT have
installed the calendar, then I would consider NOT using the control. There
are many alternatives.
 
Albert and Lynn, thanks for your input.

As mentioned, the application is built in MS Access 2000.
I failed to mention that I have purchased MS Office 2000
Developer 1.5. I will be converting my application into a
run-time version so customers wouldn't need Access
installed to use my application. It will also be packaged
through the packaging wizard.

Does that mean that I can now rightfully distribute my app
with the calender.ocx? What else is required by my
customers to get my app working, aside from running my
setup file?

Thanks

eric
 
eric said:
Does that mean that I can now rightfully distribute my app
with the calender.ocx? What else is required by my
customers to get my app working, aside from running my
setup file?
Click to expand...

Yes, you can distrbute the control in your case.
 
There are quite a number of freely-available calendar and date-time picker
controls that you can use without fear of license violation. There's a nice
one, I remember, at http://www.wolfwares.com, and it does not rely on any
external controls -- it's all done with Access' built-in forms and controls
so there's nothing "extra" to be distributed with your application. There's
another in every edition of "Access Developer's Handbook" by Litwin, Getz,
et al, published by Sybex, and you'll find others referenced if you do a
search of the archives of comp.database.ms-access or the
microsoft.public.access... newsgroups at http://groups.google.com.

Good luck with your project.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP
 
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