SOFTWARE COPYRIGHT RISK 

The personal computer (PC) in your office exposes you to a tort liability risk. That risk is the chance you will be accused of breaking federal software copyright laws.

An agency can find themselves facing serious allegations of copyright violations if they don's take steps now to assure that each of us is ready to defend against copyright claims.

How do you defend against charges of software copyright violations? You do so by being innocent and being able to prove it:

• Read the license agreement on all software.
• Comply with the license. This often means installing and using the software on only one machine at a time. It means not giving copies to others or allowing them to make copies for themselves. It may limit network use.
• Register all software with the producer and keep photos of registrations in a central file.
• Limit access to original and authorized backup disks.
• Be able to show proof of license and registration for every piece of software on every agency machine.
• Do not copy or allow copying of software manuals.
• Remove all software from hard drives when disposing of old machines.
• Secure, return, or destroy the old versions when you receive up- grades.
• What should you do now if you have not been following this "proven innocent" strategy? Do some inspecting and correcting:
• Check every program on every machine. Remove any software for which you do not have proof of valid license. Buy the software you need.
• Pull together all old versions of upgraded software and any illicit copies you may find of new or old versions. Secure or erase them as appropriate.
• Make an "open and legal computer" policy clear to all users:
• All software and data on hard drive or floppy disks should be subject to inspection at any time.
• No data should be encrypted and no access codes or passwords should be used to restrict access to any data or software without the knowledge and approval of the office computer manager.
• No employee-owned software should be installed on your agency machine.
• It should be the duty of each software installer to verify and document compliance with software license.

There is one other potential aspect of this risk. An employee could illegally copy agency purchased software for personal use. In such an a event, that employee could face personal liability.

Personal liability could also arise for a manager who would deliberately adopt a policy of violating federal copyright laws. Prevent these personal risk. Make sure employees know that software licenses must be followed. Let them know that software licenses must be followed. Let them know the agency will not defend willful malfeasance on this issue. When employees know the facts, they will act wisely.

The copyright liability risk is potentially very severe. The laws are federal. Every computer presents an exposure to this risk. Every manager must control it.

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