What is computer software in terms of copyright law?

We have heard about a lot of patent rights, but we also often hear about copyright, which generally refers to the copyright for publishing certain works. Computer Software works are probably rarely heard of. Here is the knowledge in this area from the editor of Legal Savior. This series of introductions hopes to expand readers’ knowledge.

What is computer software under copyright law

Computer software copyright refers to the developer or other rights holder of the software According to the provisions of relevant copyright laws, various exclusive rights enjoyed by software works. As far as the nature of the right is concerned, it is a kind of civil right and has the common characteristics of civil rights.

After the software is registered, the software copyright owner has the right to publish rights, developer identity rights, usage rights, usage license rights and rights to receive remuneration.

Object subject

(1) Object of software copyright

The object of software copyright refers to computer software, that is, computer programs and their related documents. A computer program refers to a sequence of coded instructions that can be executed by a device with information processing capabilities such as a computer in order to obtain a certain result, or a sequence of coded instructions or a sequence of symbolic statements that can be automatically converted into a sequence of coded instructions. The source program and object program of the same computer programThe marked programs are the same work. Documentation refers to the text materials and charts used to describe the content, composition, design, functional specifications, development status, test results and usage of the program, such as program descriptions, flow charts, user manuals, etc.

The protection of software copyright does not extend to the ideas, processing procedures, operating methods or mathematical concepts used to develop the software.

(2) Software copyright owner and ownership of rights

The software copyright holder refers to the person who enjoys the software copyright according to law natural person, legal person or other organization. Software copyright arises from the date of completion of software development. Unless otherwise provided by law, software copyright belongs to the software developer, that is, the legal person or other organization that actually organizes the development, directly carries out the development, and is responsible for the developed software; or independently completes the software development based on its own conditions and is responsible for the development. The natural person responsible for the software. If there is no evidence to the contrary, the natural person, legal person or other organization who signs the software is the developer.

Ownership and ownership of software copyrights for entrusted development and cooperative development The principles of exercise are the same as those of general work copyright ownership and exercise, but the copyright ownership of professional computer software has certain particularities. If the software developed by a natural person while serving in a legal person or other organization falls under any of the following circumstances, the copyright of the software shall be enjoyed by the legal person or other organization, and the legal person or other organization may reward the natural person who developed the software: (1) Software developed with clearly specified development goals at work; (2) The software developed is a foreseeable or natural result of engaging in work activities; (3) The funds, special equipment, and undisclosed resources of legal persons or other organizations are mainly used. Software developed with specialized information and other material and technical conditions and borne by legal persons or other organizations.

2. Copyright

(1) Personal rights of software copyright

1. Right of publication, that is, the right to decide whether the software will be made public;

2. Right of signature, that is, the right to indicate the identity of the developer and sign the software;

3. The right to modify, that is, the right to add to, delete from, or change the order of instructions or statements in the software.

(2) Software copyright property rights

1. Exclusive right to use. Specifically including:

(1) Right to copy, that is, the right to make one or more copies of the software ;

(2) Distribution rights, that is, to sell or provide the original or copy of the software to the public by way of donation.The right;

(3) The right to lease, that is The right to license others to temporarily use the software for a fee, except where the software is not the main subject of the lease;

(4) Information network dissemination right, that is, the right to provide software to the public in a wired or wireless manner so that the public can obtain the software at a time and place of their own choosing;

(5) Translation rights, that is, converting the original software from a natural language text The right to convert into another natural language text;

(6) Other exclusive rights of use that should be enjoyed by the software copyright owner.

2. Use permission, that is, the software copyright owner The right to license others to exercise their software copyright and receive compensation. If you allow others to exercise software copyright, you must enter into a licensing contract. Licenses are either exclusive or non-exclusive. If no contract is concluded or the contract does not expressly stipulate an exclusive license, the rights to be exercised shall be deemed to be non-exclusive rights.

3. Right of transfer, that is, the software copyright owner enjoys The right to transfer all or part of its software copyright and obtain remuneration. When transferring software copyright, the parties shall enter into a written contract.

Copyright, also known as copyright, refers to the general term for the personal rights and property rights enjoyed by authors and other rights holders in literary, artistic and scientific works. It is divided into moral rights and property rights. The connotation of moral rights includes public publication rights, the right to name expression and the right to prohibit others from using the work to damage the reputation of the author in a distorted or altered manner. Copyright property rights are intangible property rights and are rights based on human intelligence, so they are a type of intellectual property rights, including important Right to control, public dictation right, public broadcast right, public screening right, public performance right, public transmission right, public display right, right to adapt, right to distribute, right to lease, etc. What copyright should protect is the expression of ideas, not protection Ideas themselves, while protecting private property rights and interests, must take into account the accumulation of civilization and the dissemination of knowledge. Algorithms, mathematical methods, technology or machine designs are not the objects to be protected by copyright. They are rights with a limited time limit. After the period, anyone can use it freely.

The above is the editor's introduction to copyright-related knowledge of the Legal Savior Network. There are many types of copyrights in this area, and there are certain regulations and many rules. If you have any other questions about the rights and interests in this area, , make inquiries at any time, and our relevant personnel will answer the questions.