european-union terms-of-service open-source-software
Can I get in legal trouble for open sourcing an unofficial wrapper for an API? (EU Law)
<p>A while ago, I programmed a very simple API-Wrapper for a search engine and made it Open Source (Licensed under <a href="https://choosealicense.com/licenses/mit/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MIT</a>). All it basically does, is using the very same <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_state_transfer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">REST-API</a> the actual website uses as well (<strong>no <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_scraping" rel="nofollow noreferrer">scraping</a></strong>). So what I did was making a search query in my browser and checking in my network tab where the request went. Then I wrote a small library that uses those endpoints.</p>
<p>Now I received a message, telling me that this is against the website's ToS and could result in legal actions.</p>
<p>I'm aware that it might go against their ToS. But as far as I know, the only consequence would be a termination of the service, right?</p>
<p>The paragraph in the ToS states: <br>
<sub>(I'm not sure if I should include the name of the company so I omitted it.)</sub></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Unless explicitly agreed otherwise, no licence to use the <em>(...)</em> Application Programming Interfaces (API) is granted to the User for any use other than within the framework of the Services published by <em>(...)</em>. Consequently, no collection and no reproduction of search results is authorised other than the exceptions provided for and strictly limited by law.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'm not collecting, nor reproducing any search results. The library just queries the very same API.</p>
<p>Is this against the law in the EU and should I take down the repository containing the source code?</p>

<h2>Breach of contract is against the law</h2>
<p>It’s generally not a crime which will engage the organs of state power but the aggrieved party can take you to court for the damage they have suffered and/or to seek an injunction to get you to stop. If you don’t stop after getting an injunction, <em>then</em> it’s a crime.</p>
<p>Jurisdictions vary over who pays for a court action. In some each pays their own costs, in others, the loser pays (part of) the winner’s costs as well.</p>
<p>The amount of damages payable depend on the damage the aggrieved party has actually suffered, however, even if they have no actual losses, they can usually sue for nominal damages.</p>

<p>See <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/13549/are-terms-of-service-legal-contracts">Are terms of service legal contracts?</a>.</p>
<p>If you engage in a contract with the service provider by agreeing to the TOS, and the service provider takes the extra step of notifying you of a violation of the TOS, it is reasonable they take any action from terminating the service, up to pursuing damages against you. Say that they make advertisement revenue of $0.001 per click, and your wildly popular wrapper is used ten million times diverting eyeballs from their site... it might become worth their time to come after you.</p>
