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    For #1: Until your source code is subpoenaed by the judge and you sheepishly grin at the jury as they see your "rewrite". Commented Jun 24, 2011 at 19:05
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    For #2: Copyright infringement is normally a civil matter, so there is legally no such thing as "guilty". If the preponderance of the evidence indicates that the OP infringed, that's all that's needed. For #3: That's not what the original question said. Commented Jun 24, 2011 at 21:25
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    (1) It's not hard to spot a blatant plagiarism without seeing the source code. Besides, we're not in the habit here of advising people on how to get away with illegal and highly unethical acts. (2) Ignorantia juris non excusat (ignorance is not a defense) (3) Rewriting line-per-line is not learning. Rewriting line-per-line is definitely not just finding inspiration either. It's blatant plagiarism, plain and simple. I won't rehash it all here, but there are boatloads of legal documents and precedent supporting this. Commented Jun 25, 2011 at 10:10
  • OK, so if I didn't rewrite line by line, but understood the algorithm, and then re implemented it in my own way. Ie a one man clean room operation. Is that different? If not, am I therefor not allowed to learn from any open source project? Commented Jun 25, 2011 at 10:16
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    @Chris The whole point of a clean room operation is that people implementing the algorithm haven't seen the original source code at all. There's no such thing as a "one man clean room". Commented Jun 25, 2011 at 20:57