In some states, the information on this website may be considered a lawyer referral service. Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state. Talk to a Lawyer. Grow Your Legal Practice. Meet the Editors. Copyright law protects software code. Copyright Protects Software Most people believe that copyright law protects paintings, poems, and books.
Here are the major elements you must establish to prove infringement: you are the lawful owner of all or part of a work protected by a valid copyright one or more of your copyright rights has been infringed, and the person, partnership, or corporation being sued has actually done the infringing act or contributed to it is what's called a "contributory infringer". Ownership of a Work Protected by Copyright The question of infringement does not even arise unless the work allegedly infringed is protected by copyright.
This means that the work must be: Fixed in a tangible medium of expression. A work is sufficiently fixed if it exists on paper, on disk, or even just in computer RAM. It does not need to be "physical" in the same way as a painting or a novel.
Independently created. You cannot sue someone for copying software or other materials that you copied from others. Minimally creative. The work you believe has been infringed upon must have been the product of at least a minimal amount of creativity. The vast majority of software easily satisfies this requirement; but some databases may not.
Infringement of Your Copyright Rights As a practical matter, most cases of software copyright infringement involve a violation of the owner's exclusive right to make copies.
This means that in most cases you must prove two things to establish infringement: that the claimed infringer had access to your work, and that the infringing work is substantially similar to your work. Proving Access to Your Work To prove access, you must show that the alleged infringer had the opportunity to view and copy your software. Proving Substantial Similarity to Your Work Proving substantial similarity is usually the crux of any copyright infringement case, particularly in the software context.
Will Your Claim of Infringement Succeed? Baker Partner Locke Lord. David S. Bloch Shareholder Greenberg Traurig. Ian N. Bassam N. I appreciated that the webinar provided a narrow focus on a highly technical special interest area. Scott Gary Karr Tuttle Campbell.
I liked that the webinar gave me the ability to sit at my desk and that the speakers provided personal experiences on the topic.
Katy Dobrowitsky Miller Canfield. See Related Courses. Strafford's live courses offer you a high quality and convenient Continuing Legal Education and Continuing Professional Education option. We have been serving the legal and accounting community for over 30 years.
Corporate Compliance Firm Training. Add to your calendar. Read More. After establishing access, a court will turn to whether the two works are substantially similar. In the Ninth Circuit, substantial similarity is inextricably linked to the issue of access. Proof of substantial similarity is satisfied by a two part test of extrinsic similarity and intrinsic similarity. Keep all proofs of purchase e. Remove all software from equipment that is being discarded, sold, or donated.
Yes, if it was obtained through Tech Connect or Procurement Services. If your computer came from another source, review the licenses and documentation to verify the software's legitimacy. If you're buying a used computer, all installed software should come with license agreements, registration, and original installation disks and manuals. Remove any software that you can't verify. And there's little chance that the " fair use " argument could be applied to software the way it can to printed materials--it's generally impossible to install and use only a small piece of a software product.
Better ways to keep costs down for your students: Look into getting a volume discount or site license from the software publisher check the Software Licensing Services website first.
Find out whether the software is or could be installed in a college or departmental computer lab. There's a widespread myth that you can use software for 24 hours without penalty. The truth is the software would be illegal the moment you installed it.
Arrange to use your co-workers' computers instead. Or ask the software publisher for a trial version. Not necessarily. Each site license states who may use the software, where and for what purpose. Within those restrictions, a site license allows unlimited use. Most of Cornell's site licenses permit Cornell faculty and staff to install the software on their university computers; a few include home computers and student-owned computers as well.
To check the terms of a site license, go to the Software Licensing Services website, find the product of interest and read "Type of License" and "Critical Restrictions. Usually not. Most of Cornell's site licenses are restricted to university- or student-owned computers. Check the Software Licensing Services website for the particulars.
Some software publishers allow this use; others don't. Read the license agreement. Some examples: If you purchased Microsoft Office, Publisher, Project, or FrontPage through certain Microsoft agreements, the license permits you to install a second copy on one laptop or home computer to use for work-related purposes. If you have an Adobe product at work, you can install a second copy on one laptop or home computer, but the product cannot be used on both computers at the same time.
All software is copyright-protected, and the copyright is enforceable for 95 years, no matter what. Your best bet is to ask the copyright holder for written permission to copy the software. The U.
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