| > You are not buying a copy of the software; you are buying a license to use the software. And you generally cannot use software without first installing it to a hard drive so obviously it should be treated as a part of "usage", not "making a copy". Like playing a DVD is just usage, not making a copy. But of course the law doesn't always follow common sense. I think that making copies for oneself (as long as one doesn't distribute them) should not be regulated by copyright too. The Berne Convention says: > Authors of literary and artistic works protected by this Convention shall have the exclusive right of authorizing the reproduction of these works, in any manner or form. > It shall be a matter for legislation in the countries of the Union to permit the reproduction of such works in certain special cases, provided that such reproduction does not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author. So it is possible to permit making copies for oneself under Berne Convention if the lawmakers wanted that. For example, law allows to record TV programs. |