What is Software Piracy?

One of the most significant threats to the development of software applications is the illegal duplication and use, often referred to as software piracy. The University of Detroit Mercy fully supports the efforts of the federal government and software publishers to combat software piracy. Neither the University’s non-profit status nor its involvement in higher education exempts the institution nor any individual from copyright laws pertaining to software or software licensing agreements.

All software is automatically protected by federal copyright law from the moment of its creation. The rights granted to the owner of the copyright are clearly stated in the Copyright Act, Title 17 of the US Code. The act gives the owner of the copyright “the exclusive rights” to “reproduce the copyrighted work” and “to distribute copies … of the copyrighted work (Section 106). It also states that “anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner … is an infringer of the copyright” (Section 501), and sets forth several penalties for such conduct. Those who purchase a license for a copy of software do not have the right to make additional copies without the permission of the copyright owner, except (i) copy the software onto a single computer and (ii) make “another copy for archival purposes only,” which are specifically provided in the Copyrighted Act (Section 117).