What is a Copyright?

Copyright is a protection that covers published and unpublished literary, scientific and artistic works, whatever the form of expression, provided such works are fixed in a tangible or material form. This means that if you can see it, hear it and/or touch it - it may be protected. If it is an essay, if it is a play, if it is a song, if it is a funky original dance move, if it is a photograph, HTML coding or a computer graphic that can be set on paper, recorded on tape or saved to a hard drive, it may be protected. Copyright laws grant the creator the exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform and display the work publicly. Exclusive means only the creator of such work, not anybody who has access to it and decides to grab it.

A software copyright is a protection for software products from the illegal pirating of the software. Copyrighted software usually requires the user to buy a software license for that particular product, which enables the user to operate the software under specific agreements. If you are a company who plans on having software programs used by its employees (more then one person) you will need to consider licensing options. It is required that for each person the company have a software license, if a company purchases the program and shares it with all its employees without the proper licensing this would be illegal and can cause your company to face a criminal lawsuit.

Some things to know about licences and copyrighted software:

1) Grant of Licence. The licensor, grants to you, the licensee, a non-exclusive right to use the software in accordance with the terms contained in the licence.

2)(a) Single-User Licences. As a purchaser of a single-user licence you are granted the right to install the software on one computer only, solely for your own personal use and subject to the limitations of the copy protection software. You shall not permit any other person to have access to the software when installed on your computer by any means and for any purpose whatsoever.
(b) Site licences. Site licences are purchased by negotiation between the licensee and licensor. Purchasers of site licences are granted the right to install the software on one local network fileserver for the period specified in their agreement on the computers that constitute their Local Area Network for use by bona fide members of their institution, organization or business, faculty, department or branch. No other person shall be permitted to have access the software by any means and for any purpose whatsoever without the prior consent of the licensor.

3) Ownership of the Software. The licensor retains the copyright, title and ownership of the software and any accompanying written materials regardless of the form or media in or on which the original and other copies may exist.

4) Transfers. You may not resell or in any way trade the software for value. However you may without charge lend or give the CD-Rom to another person provided that you first inform that person that they will be required to purchase a licence from the producer before using it.

5) Prohibitions. You may not reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the software nor take any steps to defeat any software protection.

6) Termination. Licences are effective until terminated. Most Licences will terminate automatically without notice from the licensor if you fail to comply with any provision of the copyright. Upon termination you will destroy the written materials and all copies of the software, including modified copies, if any.

Determining pirated software:

With the advances in technology it is now possible for anyone to make their own CDs it is possible that you may be buying copied software which is illegal. Ensure that the software you are buying is an authentic copy, documentation is included with the software, and the CD does not appear to be burned. Generally burned CDs will have a unusual color such as green or gold tint (unfortunately you will not be able to see the CD until bought). However it is still possible for someone to make CDs which can look like an ordinary CD. Another way of possibly determining if Illegal copy is the price. If for example you see a Adobe Photoshop 5.0 for $20-$70 dollars its more then likely not a authentic copy. If it sounds to be good to be true it probably is.

An important note:
Any software which appears to be pirated must be brought to the attention of the supervisor or other authorities, as with the known use of unlicensed software. Copyright infringements harm the software industry and can carry harsh penalties so report any activities which may be illegal.