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> Using software is not one of the exclusive rights of Copyright holders.

To the best of my (admittedly limited) knowledge, no court has yet denied the long-standing presumption that, because a program needs to be copied into memory to be used, a license is required.

This is, AFAIK, the basis for non-SaaS software EULAs. If there was no legal barrier to you using software that you had purchased, the company would have no grounds upon which to predicate further restrictions.



> To the best of my (admittedly limited) knowledge, no court has yet denied the long-standing presumption that, because a program needs to be copied into memory to be used, a license is required.

This was specifically validated by the 9th Circuit in 1993 (and implicitly endorsed by Congress subsequently adopting a narrow exception for software that is run automatically when turning on a computer, copied into memory in the course of turning on the computer as part of computer repair.)


It is codified in 17 USC 117.

There is no legal barrier to using a legit copy of software. That is why software companies try to force you to agree to a contract limiting your rights.




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