A software license provides the legal right to install, use, access, display, run, or otherwise interact with a software programme. Software is considered to be a form of intellectual property, as the value of the software does not come from its physical form but rather, from the knowledge of the programmers who wrote the software. When you purchase the software, you do not own the rights to it, but you do acquire a certain limited amount of rights to use it. In much the same way, when you purchase a book, you can own and read it but, you cannot claim to have written it.
A typical software license grants a user permission to use one or more copies of software in ways where such a use would otherwise constitute infringement of the software publisher’s exclusive rights under copyright law. This can extend to all types of software, product and creative output, including artistic works and designs.
The terms and conditions of a software license control the usage of that software. The license agreement defines the way in which software can be used, and determines whether or not the software can be installed on more than one computer or device. In addition to granting rights and imposing restrictions on the use of software, software licenses typically contain provisions which allocate liability and responsibility between the parties entering into the license agreement. Software license agreements usually take the form of an End User License Agreement (EULA). This EULA could be in paper form, or form part of the software installation process. Should a user reject the terms and conditions of a license agreement, the software installation process aborts, and the software will not be installed.
Licenses can have different life spans – perpetual or non-perpetual. Perpetual licenses are everlasting and valid as long as the software is used in accordance with the license agreement requirements. Non-perpetual licenses, also known as subscription licenses, are temporary and provide the right to use a particular licensed product until the end of the license agreement term.
There is a wide variety of license types, each of which are geared towards a specific type and usage of a particular product.
Proprietary Software License
Perhaps the most commonly known software license involves the use of proprietary software. With a proprietary software license, the software publisher grants a license to use one or more (commonly known as a volume license) copies of the software but, ownership of the software still rests with the software publisher. All rights regarding the software are therefore, reserved by the publisher. Usually, proprietary software licenses include numerous terms and conditions which prohibit certain uses of the software, such as copying. Thus, when purchasing the software, a user tacitly agrees to all terms and conditions listed by the software publisher. Microsoft Windows is a perfect example of the proprietary software license.
Free Software License
With free software licenses, on the other hand, ownership of a particular copy of software does not remain with the software publisher. Instead, ownership of the copy is transferred to the user. So, whilst ownership of the copy of software is transferred to the user, ownership of the copyright remains with the software publisher. Additionally, a free software license typically grants to the end-user extra rights, which would otherwise be reserved by the software publisher.
With free software licenses, acceptance of the license is optional. A user may use the software but does not have to accept the license in order to do so. However, if the user wishes to exercise any of the additional rights granted by a free software license (such as the right to redistribution), then the end-user must accept, and be bound by, the software license.
Click here to read about Open Source Software Licenses.
