Software and Copyright Essay

In the paper “Why Software Should Be Free” written by Richard Stallman, he argued that developers should develop free software. In the paper, Stallman justified his belief of the “free software” movement. Stallman believes that free software can be defined with the four essential freedoms: the freedom to run the program however the users like, the freedom to modify the source code so that it does different computing, the freedom to distribute copies of the program, and the freedom to distribute the modified copies to others. In his justifications of his stand on free software, he argues that people will still have the initiative to develop software even though they know that it will be freely distributed. Hence, Stallman believes that one of the main goals for the

The duration of copyright determines the length of protection. Limitations on this length exist to ensure works enter the public domain. Therefore, the length of protection is one of the most relevant and debated issues regarding copyright law. The proponents and opponents of copyright term extension make compelling arguments, but both sides agree that copyright law should encourage creativity and innovation. If Disney is successful in once again lobbying for an extension of duration, a substantial number of works will fail to enter the public domain in a timely manner. This will, consequently, lead to a stifling of creativity and a suppression of innovation that could be detrimental to progress in the realms of science and the useful arts.

There is just a one person who sells products or services and there are no incentives which help to break this monopoly. There are many monopoly industries in the market. In monopoly, they use patents because they don’t like if someone’s copy their inventions.

Copyright is the legal right, to an inventor to perform, print, publish, film, or record artistic, literary, or musical material, and to allow others to do the same. Copyright law was developed to provide the creators and inventors of any works with powerful and effective rights of exclusivity over their creations (Patterson & Lindberg, 1991). Over the past, these rights were almost unlimited. People would use existing developments as if they were their own without any regard of the creator’s exclusive rights. The need to balance and limit such rights arose, and governments established these limits for the general good of the public.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted the exclusive right to the Knoll brothers to profit from their invention – Photoshop, which Adobe acquired through a licensing deal. While rewarding a person for his invention is good to promote innovation, rule utilitarians would disagree in grating the patent to them because it implicates a social cost that far outweighs the benefits of that one software and the people involved in making it. The inelastic nature of the patent gives tremendous amounts of leverage to Photoshop as it is the undisputed market leader of photo editing programs because it has features that its competitors aren’t allowed to offer due to the patent.

Because the fact that the Internet has made it so much easier to distribute software, both legally and illegally, it is extremely difficult to “cripple” the software so that it only functions on the computer of the person who purchased it. I feel that people don’t mind paying for software, but the fact that software has gotten so expensive; most people refuse to pay it. Microsoft and Adobe are a great example of software that cost anywhere from $200 - $1000 to purchase. How can the public really afford prices like that? Sure if you are a corporation and utilizing the software to produce something that will bring in money, it is understandable. I

The World Intellectual Property Organization (n.d.) helps one understand the importance of protecting intellectual property. They have spelled out several reasons of this importance including inventing new works in technology and culture, which allows progress to be made that, can be utilized worldwide. In addition, the legal protection of intellectual property encourages the commitment of additional resources for further modernization. Finally, promoting and protecting intellectual property encourages economic growth. It creates new jobs and industries. Protecting intellectual property also enhances the quality and

This paper takes an in depth look at the claims from Microsoft that FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) committed patent infringement in 2006. It also discusses how the events have impacted FOSS, whether negatively or positively and how the actions have changed both since 2006.

However, this reverse engineering in copyright law may not go very far to promote interoperability. First, some computer programs might enjoy

Identify and discuss these copyright challenges in the modern digital economy using examples from case law.

There is such a legal concept as "intellectual property". Intellectual property is defined as the creation of any intellectual innovation by an individual such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. The law provides him exclusive rights to this innovation and is strictly against theft or plagiarism in any way. Innovators can safeguard their property by one or more of the following: copyright, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and in some jurisdictions trade secrets.. Copyrights, patents, and trade secrets are each authored by different Offices. Each is based on the Laws of Commerce. (LII. Intellectual property). Cultural attitudes, in fact, esteem words and knowledge above that of certain other property, since knowledge is something that cannot be as easily duplicated as, for instance, an article of common furniture can. To illustrate the veneration that contemporary society accords intellectual invention, software is more expensive and valuable than hardware sink the

There must be a balance between the developer of the intellectual property and the interest of the public. Intellectual property is already a big business among companies. Expanding the monopolies has the effect of allowing companies to negotiate and cross-licensing technology. Microsoft, as recently reported on the Wall Street Journal, is looking to expand the licensing of its technologies, after successfully licensing some video decoders to open source groups.

Software engineering changes world culture, wherever people use computers. Email, the world-wide web, and instant messaging enable people to interact in new ways. Software lowers the cost and improves the quality of health-care, fire departments, and other important social services.

Copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of copyrighted material in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it.

A software license is usually an agreement that grants a right to use software code to someone else. A license usually grants less rights than a sale of a copy of the software. A computer activist Richard Stallman who is believes software licensing is antisocial because it prohibits the growth of technology by keeping information away from the neighbors. The prohibition on subsequent transfers hinders economic efficiency by keeping second-generation buyers and sellers apart and the restrictions on the use of products stifle entrepreneurialism and innovation.