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I, living in Germany, am developing an app based on the API of a company that has to following rules in their Legal section:

... don't want to get sued. Therefore, you agree that we can use, copy, modify, distribute, and make derivative works of your Project in any form, on a royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide basis, for any purpose and without having to pay you anything, obtain your approval, or give you credit.

You can't use a third party’s IP in your Project if doing so would violate their rights. We understand that besides our IP, you might want to incorporate someone else’s IP in your Project, such as a cool song or some other artwork. If you’re using someone else’s music, artwork or other IP, you need to have their permission before you put it into your Project. If we find out that your Project is using a third person’s IP without their permission, we may require you to take down and stop distributing your Project.

Our lawyers don’t want us to get sued or be put at risk by your Project. If we, or our partners or affiliates, have any kind of legal claim or other lawsuit brought against us that is related to your Project, you’ll pay our legal fees and costs related to this lawsuit, including our attorney’s fees, and any settlement or judgment amount that we have to pay as a result. ...


The following scenario comes to my mind as a problem:

I create the app, use the company's IP and also make heavy use of a third party's library/IP with that party's consent. The company might end up redistributing my app, but the third party, who doesn't have an agreement with them, doesn't want them to.

In this case (which I think complies to all agreements up to now), would I have to pay for the attorney fees for the (possible) lawsuit of the third party against the company? In other words, would it be legal that the company holds me accountable for them not getting the third party's agreement to using their IP?

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  • What you are citing does not sound like an actual agreement/contract, but rather than a human-readable explanation gone wrong. Is there an actual agreement/contract involved?
    – Wrzlprmft
    Commented Aug 11, 2015 at 21:01
  • @Wrzlprmft That's the most legal piece of agreement I've found, apart from the EULA that doesn't say anything for user contributed software. Commented Aug 11, 2015 at 21:08

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You can't use a third party’s IP in your Project if doing so would violate their rights.

If the third-party's licence to you did not allow you to give permission for redistribution that matchs the second-party's requirement then you have violated the third-party's rights and the second-party could rely on the indemnity you have given.

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