Software Piracy

Whether you call it borrowing, copying, sharing or "fair use," software piracy is illegal and puts your business at risk for legal action.

What is software piracy?

Software piracy is the unauthorized duplication, distribution or use of computer software — for example, making more copies of software than the license allows, or installing software licensed for one computer onto multiple computers or a server.

Copying software is an act of copyright infringement. It's illegal whether you use pirated software yourself, give it away, or sell it. And aiding piracy by providing unauthorized access to software or to serial numbers used to register software can also be illegal.

Reseller piracy occurs when an unscrupulous reseller distributes multiple copies of a single software package to different customers. This includes preloading systems with software without providing original manuals and media. Reseller piracy also occurs when resellers knowingly sell counterfeit versions of software to unsuspecting customers. Indications of reseller piracy are multiple users with the same serial number, lack of original documentation or media, and incomplete or mismatched documentation.

Copyright law

The United States Copyright Office considers software a form of literary expression (that is, intellectual property), and has registered it as such since 1964. The Computer Software Copyright Act amended copyright law to explicitly include software in 1980. Today, according to Title 17, Section 106 of the U.S. Code, "It is illegal to make or distribute copies of copyrighted material without authorization." The only exception is your right to have a backup copy for archival purposes (Title 17, Section 117). You may possess one copy of the software for personal use, and one backup copy of the software. No other copies may be made without specific authorization from the copyright owner. In other words, the United States Copyright Act prohibits the following:

Duplicating software for use or profit
Installing a single package of software on more than one computer workstation without authorization from the copyright owner
Giving or selling an unauthorized copy to another company or individual

As of December 1999, the copyright law provides for the recovery of damages for copyright infringement. Recovery includes payment of up to $150,000 per infringed work, destruction of illegal copies, and payment of attorney fees and costs. The law also allows the government to prosecute copyright infringers and provides for criminal penalties, including fines of up to $250,000 and jail terms of up to five years.

Are you in compliance?

Your first responsibility as a software user is to purchase original programs only for your use. It is illegal to purchase a single set of original software to load onto more than one computer or to lend, copy or distribute software for any reason without the prior written consent of the software manufacturer.

When purchasing software, make sure to buy only legitimate products. Many counterfeit packaged products are designed to look identical to original manufacturer's products, but are inferior in quality. Software publishers continue their efforts to make new products difficult to counterfeit.

Purchasers and users of counterfeit or copied software face unnecessary risks:

Viruses, corrupt disks, or otherwise defective software
Inadequate documentation
Software compatibility issues
Lack of technical product support available to registered users
Lack of software upgrades offered to registered users
Lost time
The risk, and tremendous expense, of being caught with pirated software
Damaged reputation

We can help

If you think you or your company may inadvertently be in violation of copyright laws, contact us online or by telephone at (305) 865-4918 to discuss your situation. We will inventory your company's software assets and help you bring your software licenses into compliance.