Pub. 1 2018-2019 |Issue 1

24 As a dealer, how could copyright law possibly impact you? After all, you sell cars, not words. But software is covered by copyright laws. And unless you live in a time warp of some kind, you probably use software throughout your dealership offices. What’s the most common way for dealerships to open themselves up to liability for copyright infringement? Suppose you found a particular software package to install on your home computer. It’s good, you decide. Just the thing the office could use. So (being the proactive sort) you take it to work and install the software on every computer in sight. Guess what: You just became a software pirate. Why is that a bad thing? • It is dangerous. If you downloaded the software from a disreputable source on the internet, you might have also downloaded security problems such as malware and viruses. • It is illegal. You might end up being forced to pay a fine. More seriously, you could be sent to prison. • You would have benefited fromprofessional help. An IT supplier who is good can help you to buy just the right amount of software in themost efficient and legal way possible. Buying software is confusing because you usually have to sign licensing agreements with all manner of terms and conditions that are (face it) too long, too confusing, and that are also written in a style that could cure insomnia. Do you read it carefully? Does anyone? Of course not; people just want to get the software up and running. Unfortunately, though, these agreements do mean something. You need to understand the basics of what they say or you can cause yourself painful legal problems. It is illegal to make or sell illegal copies, but it is also illegal to use illegal copies even if you don’t know they are illegal. You can also be held accountable for what your employees do, or what a consultant may do. The licensing agreement is more formally called an End User License Agreement, or EULA. It contains the terms of the deal you have made with the software developer. Developers sell two kinds of software: • Traditional desktop software that you buy for a one-time fee. One trend, however, is renting it through a monthly subscription. • Cloud software that you access for a regular fee in order to use it. The fee is often monthly. People refer to it as Copyright Law Licensed Software