Posts Tagged ‘Copyright Laws’

Computer software applications have one function, to help the computer user use the computer more efficiently. Various applications exist for this purpose and all have very different functions including gaming software, productivity software and more. Some of the popular types of computer application software include enterprise software, media access and media development, product engineering and simulation, content access and content management.

Computer application software such as the Microsoft Office Suite is designed to allow the computer user to perform more productively in the office, school and other situations. Using the separate applications in the Suite, anyone can create word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, web page designs, image designs, collaboration and more.

One of the biggest problems with computer application software is the licensing rights involved with the development of the software. Intellectual property rights includes the copyright, patent or trademark involved with the software and its developer. These rights come in various forms of openness, or the ability to reproduce the software and they include abandonware, shareware, freeware, public domain and open source.

All computer application software programs have a single license or copyright and the software developer usually owns it. That developer then decides how to distribute the software and attaches the appropriate rights to it. Each of these rights has a specific way of distribution and the rights disallow anyone from using the code in any other programs without explicit permission from the owner of the rights. This code is what makes the computer application software run with the computer it is used on.

Freeware is free for anyone to use, even though it is still copyrighted. Abandonware is a form of stealing the software because copyright laws specifically state that anything with a copyright to be abandoned requires the original holder of the rights to be dead for at least 70 years or have sold the rights previously to someone who made them public. Shareware is the type that offers free trials then requires the user to pay at the end of the trial period.

Public Domain is when the author of the software declares that the code can never be copyrighted. Open Source is the most complicated because it can be free or one must pay for it. However, the difference with this software is that it gives the user the ability to use the code to develop derivative software applications from it. In most cases, this type of software requires an attribution to the original author and this is usually the only requirement if payment is not necessary.

A copy of licensed software is usually purchased with a product or license key. This key must be entered when the user installs the computer application program on the computer in question. In many cases, if the user of the program does not have the correct product or license key, the computer application software will not work, or has limited capabilities.

Additionally, when a person purchases a software application program, such as Microsoft programs, the person is buying a copy of the program itself and the right to use it. Making a copy of this copy is illegal, except as a back up copy with the intention to replace the original in the case of an unforeseen event or if permission is granted under the other types of licenses.

For more information on computer software applications, visit http://findapplications.com/p159875-computer-software-applications-makes-computers-truly.cfm

Author: John Parks
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Smiling shark

A software license agreement is either a manual or electronic memorandum of a contractual agreement between the producer of software and the end user, granting to the end user a software license to use the software legally. The user can be either a legal entity or an end user and sometimes the agreement is called the end user license agreement. This contract will clearly state all the parameters of the various permissions given to the end user. In case the software license agreement is between the software producer and a business or government undertaking some special clauses are included relevant to the agreement which are unique for the licensed software.

Very often, the agreement comes shrink wrapped with the product prior to installation of the software. If the user agrees to the terms and conditions, as stated in the agreement, he or she may continue with the installation and use of the software product or else he or she may refuse the product and thus not use the software. Mostly, users do not take the trouble of reading all the clauses of the software license agreement and just click on “Accept” and begin using the software anyway. This is because of the great depth of detail held within the license agreement. The enforceability of such agreements is open to debate, especially in the United States.

The copyright laws governing making backup copies of the purchased software allows the owner of the software to make copies for the intention of backup purposes only. However, there are various interpretations to this and a certain amount of ambiguity in this regard allows end users to make copies for purposes other than merely backing up their software.

The majority of the purchased software is liable to perform as per specifications but mostly the agreement disclaims any warranty and limits any damages to just the cost of the software. In addition, some agreements prohibit the use of any reverse engineering in order to protect their trade secrets.

In the world of computers, copyrighted software sold is of two types, namely open source/free software and closed source/proprietary software. It may be added that not all software is copyrighted. There is also one other type of software that is called “abandonware” software. This is a type of software that is not being sold or supported by its copyright holder. This means that though this software is still available in the market its support and development has ceased and that it is not actively being protected, represented or supported.

Using box wrapped software implies that once the wrapper has been opened the user is giving their assent to the software terms contained within. This type of agreement is termed as “click-wrap agreements”. The popularity of click-wrap agreements is increasing since it allows the user to read the terms and conditions prior to accepting them. It has also been found to be legally enforceable in the United States with courts generally upholding such contracts. A prime example of click-wrap agreements is Hotmail, the email program sold by MSN.

There is also a distinction between personal and commercial use of the software. Personal use implies that the software is being used in one’s personal capacity while commercial use implies that the software is being used to obtain commercial or monetary gain from use of the software.

Wade Anderson is a CPA and operates DigitalWorkTools.com

Click to view a Software License Agreement.

Author: Wade Anderson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera News