copyright
Can an un-copyrighted app be paid on Play Store
<p>I have an app that is not copyright protected or patented. Can I still upload it to the Google Play Store as a paid app?</p>

<p>Your question is not valid- because it <em>is</em> copyright protected as long as you are the author! Under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_copyright_treaties" rel="nofollow noreferrer">international copyright law</a>, as soon as a work is created, the author receives copyright.</p>

<p>It's customary to put this statement on a work to assert your ownership of copyright:
<code>
(C) Firstname Lastname YYYY
</code></p>

<p>However, if you are not the author or the author has not permitted you to put it on the Google Play store, then you may not upload it to the Google Play store- <strong>paid or otherwise.</strong></p>

<p>There's the other answer - you have the copyright. But also if there was no copyright, then <em>anybody</em> can sell the software for money. </p>

<p>For GPL licensed software, check the play store contract carefully. The AppStore license conflicts with GPL if you want to charge money. Their wording is that the customer pays for a license, not for the software. GPL allows charging for the software, but not for the license. </p>
