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B.S.A

Excerpts taken from the article titled
SOFTWARE PIRACY AND THE LAW
distributed by the business software alliance

Software development involves a team effort that blends the creative ideas and talents of programmers, writers and graphic artists. And like most creative works, such as books, music and films, computer software is protected by U.S. copyright laws, U.S. code Title 17 and 18.

When you purchase software you do not become the owner of the copyright. Rather, you are purchasing the right to use the software under certain restrictions imposed by the copyright owner, typically the software publisher. These rules are described in the documentation accompanying the software - the license. Most often, it states that you have the right to load the software onto a single computer and make one back-up copy. If you copy, distribute or install the software in ways that the license prohibits, whether you are swapping disks with friends and coworkers or participating in widespread duplication, you are violating federal copyright law. Even if you only help someone else make unauthorized copies, you are still liable under the copyright law.

Many businesses, both large and small, face serious legal risks because of software piracy. Under the law, a company can be held liable for its employees' actions. If an employee installs unauthorized software copies on company computers or acquires illegal software through the internet, the company can be sued for copyright infringement. This is true - even if the company's management was unaware of the employee's actions.

What are the penalties for pirating software?

Software theft is stealing. If you or your company would be caught copying software, you may be held liable under both civil and criminal law.

If the copyright owner brings a civil action against you, the owner can seek to stop you from using its software immediately and can also request monetary damages. The copyright owner may choose between actual damages, which includes the amount it has lost because of your infringement as well as any profits attributable to the infringements and statutory damages, which can be as much as $150,000 for each program copied. In addition, the government can criminally prosecute you for copyright infringement. If convicted, you can be fined up to $250,000, or sentenced to jail for up to 5 years, or both.

For more information about software piracy, to obtain a free software management guide or to report piracy, call the toll-free BSA anti-piracy hotline at 1-888-NO-PIRACY or log on at www.bsa.org.