What are the Legal Requirements for Shareware?

Software intellectual property rights are the rights that software developers enjoy in accordance with their intellectual labor results in accordance with law, and are an intangible property.

Software Intellectual Property

Software intellectual property rights are the rights that software developers enjoy in accordance with their intellectual labor results in accordance with law, and are an intangible property.

Chinese name

Software Intellectual Property

Definition

People's right to the fruits of their intellectual work

applicable law

Copyright of works

What is copyright

Copyright, also known as copyright, refers to literature

Intellectual property rights are the rights that people enjoy in accordance with the law in the fruits of their intellectual labor. They are an intangible property. Intellectual property includes

Application of Software Intellectual Property Law

1) Copyright of works: treat the documents, programs or other media in the research and development results as works, which shall be protected by copyright law;
2) Design patent rights: application-side engineering technology and technical design schemes can apply for patent protection;
3) Trademark rights in the form of expressions: Intellectual achievements in the form of product names, software interfaces, etc. can be applied for trademark protection.

What is copyright

Copyright, also known as copyright, refers to the rights enjoyed by authors of literary, artistic, and scientific works over their works.
Copyright includes the following personal and property rights:
1) The right of publication, that is, the right to decide whether a work is publicly available;
2) The right to sign, that is, the right to indicate the identity of the author and to sign the work;
3) Right of modification, that is, the right to modify or authorize others to modify the work;
4) The right to protect the integrity of the work, that is, the right to protect the work from distortion and tampering;
5) The right of use and the right to remuneration, that is, the right to use the work by means of reproduction, performance, broadcast, exhibition, distribution, filming, television, video, or adaptation, translation, annotation, editing, etc; And the right to get paid for it.

About software copyright

At present, most countries use copyright law to protect software, including software including programs and documents as a work. But in fact, the protection of software is a comprehensive protection, which can also be protected through different methods such as patent law, contract law, trademark law, anti-unfair competition law, and so on.
Chinese citizens and organizations enjoy copyright in software they develop, regardless of whether they are published, wherever they are published, or whether or not copyright registrations are made. According to WTO rules, the copyrights of the contracting countries are mutually recognized.
In view of the particularity of software works, the State Council has formulated the Computer Software Protection Regulations in accordance with the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China. The main basis for software copyright protection is the Computer Software Protection Regulations.
Software copyright registration is not a necessary condition for software copyright protection, but when copyright disputes occur, copyright registration materials are legally recognized.

The main content of software copyright

Software copyright includes personal rights and property rights, which are the exclusive rights granted to software copyright by law. Personal rights refer to the right to publish and developer identity; property rights refer to the right to use, license, remuneration, and transfer.
Publishing rights: the right to decide whether the software is publicly available;
Developer identity right: the right to indicate the identity of the developer and the right to sign on their software;
Right of use: that is, the right to use its software in the manner of reproduction, display, distribution, modification, translation, annotation, etc. without prejudice to the public interest;
The right to use the license and the right to remuneration, that is, the right to allow others to use their software in part or all of the ways specified in paragraph (c) of this article, and the right to be remunerated thereby;
The right of transfer means that the right holder simultaneously transfers the right to use, the license to use, and the right to remuneration, that is, the transfer of all property rights to others.

The significance of software copyright protection

The development of software requires a large amount of intellectual and financial investment. The software itself is a highly intelligent crystallization. Like tangible property, it should also be protected by law in order to increase the enthusiasm and creativity of developers, promote the development of the software industry, and promote human Progress of civilization.
Fighting infringement and piracy, protecting software intellectual property rights, and establishing a good market environment that respects knowledge and intellectual property rights is the government's intention and the desire of software companies. It will affect the development of the software industry and the survival of software companies.

Software copyright protection level

1) Original software (general protection)
2) Shareware A. Shareware is a free trial software for fixed-term distribution.
The main distribution channels of shareware Distribution through trade fairs Distribution through bulletin board webpages From one trial to another trial Contents of shareware Shareware has all or part of the function; source code is usually not included in the share In a software program.
B. Provisions for the protection of shareware Free trial shareware for a fixed period usually includes a "reaadme" file or an open menu indicating that the software is shareware and a statement of how and where to send money. Users can try the shareware free of charge for the period agreed in the statement.
Buy usage rights or disable some shareware after the trial period expires. Some shareware automatically locks software features after the trial period ends; others do not have expired lock protection. In any case, continuing the "trial" after the trial period violates the rights of the copyright owner.
(3) Trial only During the trial period (without the permission of the copyright owner), it is illegal to develop new applications for shareware.
Many computer books have shareware disks, which are only part of the shareware distribution system. Buying a book does not mean that you have purchased the attached shareware.
Forbid profit distribution. Trial users may not make profits by copying and distributing shareware.
3) Free software A. Free software is a kind of weak protection software that is distributed and used free of charge.
Free software is distributed in a similar way to shareware.
B. Free software protection regulations Any drinking water source source development and application of users must also be free software.
Forbid profit distribution Non-copyright owners are not allowed to make profits by copying and distributing free software.
4) Public domain software A, public domain software Public domain software, also known as free software, is software that is explicitly waived by the copyright owner of the property rights in the work and can be freely used by anyone.
It is allowed to obtain economic benefits by copying and distributing free software. The property rights to the secondary development results of free software are owned by the secondary developer. Application development based on free software, the developer has the ownership of the application results. It is generally believed that the copyright owner of the original free software has not waived the personal rights of the author.
For those who meet one of the following, in addition to the right to developer identity, the software's rights enter the public domain before the protection period expires:

Software copyright protection period

The software copyright protection period is twenty-five years, and ends on December 31, 25 years after the software was first published. Before the term of protection expires, the software copyright owner may apply to the software registration management agency for renewal for 25 years, but the term of protection shall not exceed 50 years. The protection period of the software developer's developer identity right is unlimited.

Software copyright owner

Software copyright holders: Units and citizens who have copyright in software.
Generally, software copyright is owned by the software developer. A software developer usually refers to a legal person or unincorporated organization that performs the actual organization and development work, provides working conditions to complete the software development, and bears responsibility for the software; it can also complete software development on its own conditions and assume responsibility for the software Responsible citizen.
1. Cooperative development: shared by developers (except for contracts and agreements)
(1) Dividable: enjoy rights separately; do not infringe the overall copyright when exercising;
(2) Indivisible: Developers exercise rights through consensus.
2. Entrusted development: If the contract between the two parties stipulates that there is no limited contract, the right belongs to the developer (the entrustee); tasks assigned by higher authorities or the government shall be handled in the same way.
The copyright of software job works belongs to the unit.

Software copyright license

1. The license for use is because the object of intellectual property protection is an intangible property, so it can be owned by most people at the same time. The legal "one property, one right" principle embodies the license in the field of intellectual property.
The so-called software license refers to the agreement between the software owner and the software user to determine the rights and obligations of both parties by entering into an agreement. According to this agreement, the user does not enjoy ownership, but can use the software product at the time and place agreed in the agreement in the agreed manner.
Software license is different from software rights transfer. No copyright transfer or change of copyright owner occurs.
2. The types of licenses can be divided into three types according to the use rights and exclusiveness granted by the licensed use:
(1) Exclusive use license: The right holder authorizes the contract in writing, and the authorized party can determine the exclusivity according to the methods, conditions, and time stipulated in the contract. software;
(2) Exclusive license: The right holder authorizes the written contract, and the authorized party can determine exclusivity according to the contract's methods, conditions, and time. The right holder must not grant the right to use the software to a third party, and the right holder can use the software itself. ;
(3) Ordinary use license: The right holder authorizes the contract in writing, and the authorized party can determine exclusivity according to the method, conditions and time stipulated in the contract. The right holder can grant the right to use the software to a third party, and the right holder can also use the right software.

Features of software license

Equipment and environment for using software (1) Single-use license Generally, when you purchase a set of software on the market, you only get a license to install the software on a computer. This type of use can only be installed on one machine. A license is a stand-alone license. Except those installed on the server.
(2) Site use license means that the software copyright owner grants permission to all computers in a particular site to use its software. A venue license may include preferential prices for multiple copies of the software or allow unlimited copies of specific software; the license fee may be adjusted based on the number of nodes on the network or the number of file servers. When the unit has many computers, if you use a stand-alone license, you need to buy a lot of software, and it is much more economical to obtain a site license. However, to obtain a site license, you must contact the software copyright owner directly.
(3) Printing equipment Some printing software, such as fonts or fonts, can be installed on the computer or integrated into the chip of the printer. Therefore, there are two types of software licenses, one is computer-based license, Is based on a printer license. Chinese character library software is currently installed in Chinese character printers.
A computer-based license means that all computers on which the software is installed need to be licensed; a printer-based license is a license that allows the software to be installed on all computers that use the printer.
2. About the licensee (1) Single-person license Single-person license means that the software licensed for use can only be used by a specific person. The people here can be natural or legal persons.
A unit (legal person) can apply for a single person (person) license, which is similar to a site license. If a unit has multiple office locations, a single person (person) license is more suitable.
Generally, after obtaining the unit's license, the unit can use the software without restriction, but its conditions of use generally require annual renewal.
(2) Multi-user is divided into network license, parallel license, and open license.
Network licenses are determined in a network environment based on the number of computers that can use the software.
Concurrent licenses are determined in a network environment based on the number of computers that are likely to use the software at the same time.
Open license means that the software copyright owner has issued more licenses to users than the number of installation carriers provided by the software copyright owner. For example, provide a set of information and issue ten licenses.
3. Regarding the protected objects (1) Bundle bundled sales are software copyright owners who combine some programs into packaged packages for sale. Such software is not allowed to be installed and used separately. Commonly used office software generally includes processing software such as text, forms, presentations, etc. There are individual user versions and enterprise versions in different combinations. Sometimes two independently packaged products will also be absorbed in combination, such as WPS office + Kingsoft Internet Security. This situation depends on whether there is an agreement in advance. If there is no agreement, it can be understood as a product promotion, which is not a bundled sale.
(2) Shareware Shareware is software that is distributed by software copyright holders to users or the public for free through trade fairs, bulletin boards, etc. This software often has some or all of the functions of the official version of the software. Use the software to familiarize yourself with its usage or features, but there may be time restrictions.
Shareware is paid for. Introductory files or menus of shareware usually indicate that the software is shareware and payment instructions.
(3) Free software Free software is a free distribution software that does not require a license fee. It is roughly the same as the distribution method of shared software, but the end user does not need to pay. At the same time, the source code of free software is usually public, such as LINUX. Free software cannot be distributed for profit, and any secondary application development based on free software must be free software.
(4) Version upgrade Generally, the functions of a software are constantly improved and improved, and its external performance is the continuous upgrade of the version. Generally speaking, the higher the version number, the more powerful the software is. In order to obtain a newer version of the software, the user can directly purchase a complete set of software that can be run independently (the full version), or an upgraded version of the old version.
Full version: You can continue to use the previous version; that is, you can use the old and new sets.
Upgraded version: You only have one set of software license, you can only use the new or old one.
Generally, software purchase does not include free version upgrades; sometimes, in order to protect the rights and interests of users, for example, before the new version is launched, the copyright owner promises to provide free software upgrade services for a certain time or number of times.
For some software, such as antivirus software, the copyright owner will provide data update services.

Restrictions on software copyright

1. Fair use law stipulates that the use of a protected work of another person under certain conditions can be made without paying the copyright owner's consent or paying compensation.
(1) Units and citizens who legally hold software copies without the consent of the copyright owner may:
* Install the software into the computer according to the needs of use;
* Make backup copies for archival purposes, but these backup copies must not be made available to others in any way. These backup copies must be destroyed once the holder loses legal ownership of the software;.
* Make necessary modifications to use the software in the actual computer application environment or improve its functional performance, but unless otherwise agreed, you must not submit the software to any third party without the consent of the software copyright owner or its legal assignee. Provide the modified text.
(2) For non-commercial purposes such as classroom teaching, scientific research, and state agencies performing official duties, a small number of copies of the software may be made without payment of compensation to the software copyright owner or its legal assignee. However, the name of the software, the developer, and the other rights that the copyright owner or its legal assignee enjoys in accordance with these regulations shall not be infringed when used. This copy shall be properly kept, recovered or destroyed after use, and shall not be used for other purposes or provided to others.
Classroom teaching generally refers to face-to-face, teacher-wide classroom teaching; scientific research generally refers to non-commercial scientific research; the execution of official duties by state agencies only refers to the conduct of official duties, such as the need to copy the parties involved in the investigation and evidence collection Software, etc., does not mean that state agencies can simply copy other people's computer software in ordinary office behavior.
2. Legal license refers to the use of copyright-protected works under certain conditions by law, without the permission of the copyright owner, but should be paid in accordance with the regulations.

What rights does the software user have?

Units and citizens who legally hold software copies without the consent of the software copyright owner shall enjoy the following rights:
(1) Load the software into the computer according to the needs of use;
(2) Make backup copies for archival purposes. These backup copies shall not be made available to others in any way.
(3) Make necessary modifications in order to use the software in an actual computer application environment or to improve its functional performance. However, unless otherwise agreed, no modified text may be provided to any third party without the consent of the software copyright owner or its legal assignee.
Due to the need for non-commercial purposes such as classroom teaching, scientific research, and the execution of official duties by state agencies, a small number of copies of the software may not be paid without the consent of the software copyright owner or its legal assignee. However, the name and developer of the software should be stated when using it.

14. Why does computer software require copyright registration?

Developers of computer software enjoy copyright regardless of whether or not they publish the software. Registration of software copyright with a software registration management agency is a prerequisite for filing administrative disputes or lawsuits over software rights. The registration certification document issued by the software registration management agency is a preliminary proof of the validity of the software copyright or the facts stated in the registration application document. So the benefits of software copyright registration are:
1) Provide strong evidence to help right holders to claim their rights in the event of a dispute;
2) Assist the judicial authorities to obtain evidence quickly and easily, so that the case can be concluded quickly;
3) Cooperate with government agencies to implement management to promote the development of the software industry, enterprises can also enjoy tax-free treatment; sell their own knowledge

15. Software Piracy

Any act of copying or disseminating the software without the permission of the software copyright owner, or otherwise disseminating, selling, and using the software beyond the scope of the license, is software piracy. Piracy is an infringement of the property rights of software copyright holders protected by relevant intellectual property laws.
The nature of computer software determines the software's ease of replication. Every end user, even a beginner, can accurately copy and install the software from one computer to another. The process is very simple, but not It must be legal. Any copying of software other than backup is a violation of copyright law.

Main forms of software piracy

(1) End-user piracy When an enterprise or organization ("end-user") uses pirated software or unauthorized software copying, it is an end-user software piracy and constitutes infringement.
End-user software piracy has the following forms:
* Run another person's software on one or more computers without the permission of the software license agreement;
* The disk is not copied for archival purposes, but for reinstallation and distribution;
* Does not have a legal version that can be upgraded, but takes advantage of the upgrade opportunity;
* The use of acquired educational or other non-retailed software, the license agreement of which cannot be sold to or used by the unit;
* Swap software disks inside and outside the workplace.
Please note that the purchase of a set of genuine software does not mean that he can install and run the software on two or more computers, depending on the permissions granted to him by the software license agreement; generally, the A license is only available for installation and use on one computer.
(2) Buying hardware pre-installed software In order to make the computer hardware they sell more attractive, computer hardware dealers often install unauthorized software in advance on the computer, which is called "hardware pre-installation". The behavior of "hard disk pre-installation" generally appears in hardware vendors, but there are also "hard disk pre-installation" situations in some computer manufacturers, system integrators and independent software developers.
If a computer vendor installs software on a computer's hard drive without the authorization of a genuine software manufacturer to attract customers to purchase its computer product, this behavior constitutes an infringement of the software copyright owner. In this case, the user also needs to bear the liability for infringement, unless the user has sufficient evidence to prove that the legal software was also purchased when the hardware was purchased. Therefore, if the software sold by the computer sales office has the software pre-installed, the user should ask the computer vendor for the software license agreement, original CD-ROM, user manual and other related documents and receipts.
(3) Software "abuse" caused by client-server connection
By connecting multiple computers in the form of client-server, users can call software stored in the local area network. The license for server software generally has a clear limit on the number of server users, or requires users to obtain a separate call license. Since the end user of the client does not directly copy the software in form, but uses it beyond the scope of the license, this form of infringement needs to arouse the vigilance of the unit user to avoid infringement.
(4) Imitation of pirated software CDs is by imitating software works that enjoy copyright, and making illegal copies and sales.
For packaged software, counterfeit CDs or disks containing the software program can often be found, as well as related packaging, manuals, license agreements, stickers, registration cards and anti-theft passwords. For consumers, there are a few things you can do to prevent the purchase of counterfeit products by mistake:
* Carefully check the authenticity of the product when purchasing;
* Buy from an honest and trustworthy dealer;
* Make sure the software includes all user materials and license agreement at the time of purchase.
Departments authorized to purchase software should be aware that counterfeit software is often found in the following situations:
* The software price is greatly reduced, and it is unbelievably low;
* The software is distributed in the form of a CD-ROM, without the materials and packaging attached to general legal products;
* The software does not have the standard anti-counterfeiting mark of the manufacturer;
* The software does not have the original license agreement or other materials (such as a user registration card or manual) attached to the general legal product;
* The software package or attached material is a copy or the print quality is poor;
* The disc is gold-colored (burned from a reproducible disc), while the genuine software disc is characterized by a silvery white color (read-only disc);
* The CD-ROM contains software from more than one manufacturer, or contains programs that are not generally sold "set";
* Software is distributed by mail order or online by distributors who cannot provide legitimate guarantees for legitimate products.
(5) Internet software piracy With the popularity of the Internet, online software plagiarism has become more popular. Criminals often advertise on sites on the Internet and sell counterfeit software. In addition, they often upload unauthorized software to the network for network users to download from the Internet. It is also illegal for users to download and use such software.
Some shareware allows downloading a trial, but you should pay after using it for a certain time or number of times.

Legal liability for torts

If the user has infringement, he will bear the following responsibilities according to the circumstances:
1. Civil liability: including cessation of infringement, elimination of influence, public apology, compensation for losses, etc .;
2. Administrative responsibilities: including ordering to stop production and distribution of infringing copies, confiscation of illegal income, confiscation of infringing copies and production equipment, and fines of up to 100,000 yuan or 5 times the total price;
3. Criminal liability: If the amount of illegal income obtained by copying or selling infringing products is large and constitutes a crime, the offender shall be sentenced to three years or less in prison, detained, and punished separately or in combination; if the amount is large, the punishment shall be three years to seven years. , Or a term of imprisonment of two to five years and a fine; a unit that has committed a criminal act shall be fined, and the person in charge directly responsible and other persons directly responsible shall be punished.

How to avoid using pirated software

1. The unit that provides genuine software to employees must first provide genuine software to employees. This is the key to the problem. To do this, the following measures need to be taken:
Estimate the unit's software requirements;
Establish a corresponding software statistics table for each computer, listing the software that already exists in the machine and will be needed in the future;
Provide genuine software to meet the requirements of each machine statistics table;
Make a reasonable budget for the software;
Provide employees with required software in a timely manner;
Reasonably estimate the needs of employees and make plans in advance to meet them.
2. Preventing duplication and use of unauthorized software units should also take various measures to prevent employees from using pirated software, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble to the unit:
Ensure timely availability of genuine software;
Insist on using genuine software and educate employees extensively;
Designate a person responsible for the reasonable use of the software;
Register software purchases;
Regularly check the hard disks of all computers in the organization to ensure that all programs are genuine;
Correct and punish employees' piracy.

^[1]