3.+Copyright+and+Software

// (word cloud created by me, www.wordle.net) //  WHY DO SOFTWARE AUTHORS NEED TO BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT? **  Computer software can be easily copied. Software authors need to be protected by copyright so that they can earn money from the programs they have created. Copyright allows the software author to sue infringers (Cai, 2009). If software authors are protected, any damages and profit made by the infringer may be recovered (Australian Copyright Council, 1994).
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**COST TO AUSTRALIAN COMPUTER INDUSTRY EVERY YEAR**  In 2004, software piracy cost Australia about $545 million dollars (Beer, 2005). Software piracy has become a major problem to the Australian computer industry. In 2009, it was found that 26% of all computer software was pirated (The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), 2009). Instead of buying legal software products, they are copying them through //end-user piracy // such as installing the software on another machine that does not belong to the licence holder, //internet piracy // through pirate websites and peer-to-peer networks, and //software counterfeit (The MathWorks, 1994). // If software piracy continues, the Australian computer industry will lose a lot of money, and software authors will go out of business. Software piracy threatens the software market.

**RESULT OF SOFTWARE PIRACY **  This will lead to a decline in softwares and products, and the availability of professional programs for certain requirements an individual may need e.g. the variety of different video editing programs may be limited. This gives consumers little choice in what they can use, and their creative capacities and potential are restricted to what that software has to offer.

**// (Illustrator: Melinda Kolk, Pics4Learning.com) // **