Copyright Terminology
- 公共领域
- Items placed in the public domain are free of all restrictions.
- Freeware or "Copyleft"
- These items are protected by copyright, but the owner has given permission for free
non-commercial distribution. You should read the copyright terms to determine if the
author has retained any distribution rights. 为 example, many "freeware" copyrights
require you to obtain permission before including the software in a commercial product.
- 共享软件
- These are commercial programs distributed on the "honor" system. 你可以
to copy the program and use it for a specific time period (typically 30 days). If
you decide to keep the program, you must then pay a shareware fee to the copyright
持有人. 共享软件 has become a popular method for small software publishers since
it bypasses conventional marketing channels.
- 一些
- 一些 are crippled copies of commercial software. They permit you to test out the
program, but you must purchase the software before you gain full functionality. 为
example, the demoware may be identical to the full product except that it can不 print
或者保存文档.
- 复制受保护的
- Some copyrighted software includes special coding that prevents successful copying. This can take the form of an encryption key, use of a hardware enabler or use of a 专用密钥盘. In recent years, copy protection has fallen into disfavor since it often introduces many complications for legitimate users. It is important to 不e that copy protection is 不 the same as copyright. Even if an item is 不 copy protected, it may still be copyrighted and therefore illegal to duplicate the material.
Useful copyright link
- The Copyright 网络site has very readable interpretation of the law and summaries of recent cases.