Software piracy and its legal implications

Abstract

Software piracy is a pervasive phenomenon in the wake of the proliferation of microcomputers in the end user computing environment. Software vendors and the software vendors' trade association, the Software Publishers Association (SPA), have been very aggressive in the US in pursuing infringements of copyright, with strong legislative support from the U.S. Congress. Unwittingly, an organization may be exposed to the risk of being held liable for copyright violations made by its employees. This paper discusses (1) types of software piracy, (2) organized anti-piracy campaigns, (3) forms of intellectual property protection for software, such as trade secrets, patents, licensing, copyrights, civil liability, and criminal liability, and (4) several cases of lawsuits and settlements.