End-User License Agreements

When copyright holders or stores sell works to the general public, customers generally have the right to do whatever they want with their copies. For example, someone who purchases a book from a bookstore can read it, give it to someone else, or discard it.

In contrast, software companies almost always licence their products to users rather than selling them. Because a licence grants permission to use a product rather than ownership, software publishers can impose restrictions on how purchasers use their software. An end-user licence agreement may, among other things, require software purchasers to use it for personal rather than commercial purposes.

An end-user licence agreement may require the user to use the software only on a specific computer or type of computer, in a specific location, or in a specific application. They may also be prohibited from sharing the software with more than a certain number of concurrent users, and they may be prohibited from transferring or sublicensing the licence without the software owner's permission. The licence may forbid the user from using the software on a computer network, altering or copying it, disassembling or reverse engineering it. License terms have become increasingly restrictive in recent years. When purchasing software, you must be aware of and abide by the terms of the licence agreement.