what is infringement of software copyright?

All Answers To Questions

A patent generally refers to a tangible object or process. A patentee is given exclusive rights for a certain length of time in return for disclosing his invention, process, etc. A copyright usually refers to an intellectual work (book, movie, video game, etc.) Copyright also gives the copyright owner exclusive rights with certain exceptions. Software is usually copyrighted, but I'm sure there are instances where software could be patented. (Maybe even both in some cases). Infingement occurs when someone (without authorisation from the copyright holder) distributes, broadcasts, sells, rents, exhibits, or otherwise allows public access to (unauthorised copies of) copyrighted material. A person can legally sell or rent a legitimate copy they have purchased (first sale doctrine).

The first respondent is correct. Software patents usually relate to unique algorithms or methods. For example, the shopping cart is patented. To add any type of shopping cart to a website, you must pay royalties to the patent owner. If you copy exactly the code and icons from the Amazon shopping cart and put them on your own website, you would be infringing the Amazon copyright on that content.