Quote:
Originally Posted by Rufus
It is also (technically) illegal for a company to install copy protection software on their discs, thus stopping you from making perfectly legal back-up of the software that you have purchased, which you are by law entitled to do.
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This statement is incorrect.
Copyright law, in both the US and UK, allows under specific circumstances the creation of an archival copy of software. (this law does not apply to any other type of copyright material eg literature, music, movies which it is always illegal to copy for any reason unless you have the permission of the copy right owner, or belong to certain specific special groups)
It should be noted that you are not allowed to use this copy unless the original is no longer useable, similarly if you transfer the licence to another person (eg sell it), or the licence expires, then the archival copy must also be transferred or destroyed.
for further information on US copyright law see
U.S. Copyright Office - Copyright and Digital Files
for further information on UK copyright law see
P-01: UK Copyright Law fact sheet
Whilst making an archival copy is permitted, it is allowable for a company to build copy prevention mechanisms into their products, as they can comply with regulations by offering to replace defective media. Bear in mind that you never own the software, just a licence to use it.
A lot of people erroneously believe copy prevention software is illegal because of the trouble Sony BMG got into for some of its attempts to prevent copying of audio CDs. They got into trouble because of several aspects of the way the copy protection worked not that it was there at all.
Specifically it installed a program silently without permission as soon as the copy protected audio cd was inserted in a pc, also the EULA made no mention of the questionable software and finally there was no uninstaller available for the software. These three things are illegal in many countries and it was this that led to a variety of legal actions being taken against Sony BMG