Wired Article on the GPL

[John Cowan]

Justin Wells wrote:
 
> Usually, though, in order to run it you have to copy it into memory, and
> without a specific grant, you don't have the right to make that copy. I
> thought there was a court decision in the US which determined that copying
> into RAM was "fixation" in copyright law.
> 
> It's not clear to me that you are entitled to copy a program into
> RAM just because you are the owner and have ordinary copy rights.

This term "copy rights" is misleading if it means (as I suppose)
"the rights of the owner of a copy", as it looks too much like "copyrights".

> It
> might be that there is some implicit right to copy a program into
> RAM for the purpose of executing it, if you own the program.

*sigh*  Not implicit but *explicit*.

Title 17, Section 117, "Limitations on exclusive rights: Computer programs",
which became law in 1980, is unmistakably clear:

# Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, 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 [...].

Since you cannot run a program without copying it into RAM, 117(1) clearly
creates a safe harbor for this kind of copying, without regard to the
copyright owner's rights.  So don't worry already: if you own the program
free and clear (no restrictive EULA license) you can run it on any
computer you like, and any number of computers that you want, and the
copyright owner has nothing to say.

(The rest of Section 117 has to do with making archival backups, and the
rule that you can transfer them if and only if you transfer the original
with them.)

-- 

Schlingt dreifach einen Kreis um dies! || John Cowan <jcowan at reutershealth.com>
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Denn er genoss vom Honig-Tau,           || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
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