On 15.04.2010, at 23:45, Kirill wrote: > Is it legal to use some Mac OS X icons in 3rd party application? > For example Finder displays great "clock" icon for "Recent files" (see Finder > Sidebar->Search For->Today). > My application has Finder/ITunes-like interface and it have Recent Folders > item in Sidebar too. So, is it legal to load and display this apple clock > icon in my application?
Apple has Copyright on the image, so they would be in their rights to sue you, until it's one of the template images ([NSImage imageNamed: NSAddTemplateImage] etc.) or another image available through an API (like Icon Services), but historically Apple has let people get away with it, at least when they were representing the right thing. E.g. don't use the "iTunes" icon to point to your "Music" section, only use it to point to iTunes or the iTunes library. Be aware that you are at Apple's mercy here, though. See Rogue Amoeba's odyssey regarding Airfoil Speakers Touch: http://www.rogueamoeba.com/utm/2009/11/13/airfoil-speakers-touch-1-0-1-finally-ships/ Also, you're missing a branding opportunity here: If you have your own icons made, you can make them fit your app's designs a bit better. As long as they're similar enough that users recognize them as the same concept, you're not only safe from any Apple opinion changes, your app also becomes more recognizable. -- Uli Kusterer Sole Janitor http://www.the-void-software.com
