> Has this interpretation actually been upheld by any courts?
That copying into RAM, including specifically in the context of running software, is included in the exclusive right of copying reserved to the copyright holder except as licensed by them? Yes, the main case I am familiar with being MAI Systems Corp. v. Peak Computer, Inc., 991 F.2d 511 (9th Cir. 1993) [0]; note that for the specific context of that case (software that is run automatically when activating a computer in the course of maintenance or repair of that computer), Congress adopted a narrow exception after this case , codified at 17 USC § 117(c) [1], but that validates that in the general case, copying into RAM is a use of the exclusive rights in copyright.
> it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided:
> (1) that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner
i.e. the owner of a copy of a computer program has the right to make more copies if necessary to use it (e.g. copy-to-RAM, copy to CPU cache) as long as they don't use those additional copies for any other purpose. That same section also gives you the right to make backups as long as you destroy them when giving up ownership of the original.
That copying into RAM, including specifically in the context of running software, is included in the exclusive right of copying reserved to the copyright holder except as licensed by them? Yes, the main case I am familiar with being MAI Systems Corp. v. Peak Computer, Inc., 991 F.2d 511 (9th Cir. 1993) [0]; note that for the specific context of that case (software that is run automatically when activating a computer in the course of maintenance or repair of that computer), Congress adopted a narrow exception after this case , codified at 17 USC § 117(c) [1], but that validates that in the general case, copying into RAM is a use of the exclusive rights in copyright.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAI_Systems_Corp._v._Peak_Comp....
[1] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/117