COPYRIGHT CHANGES RECOMMENDED BY SPA
Current Law Hinders Fight Against Software Piracy

October 19,1993 (Washington, DC) - The Software Publishers Association
(SPA) told a Senate subcommittee today that the copyright law should be
changed to remove registration requirements that can impede the pursuit of
so-called "software pirates," those who copy computer programs illegally.

"Current copyright law impedes the efforts of SPA and software developers
to prosecute software piracy wherever it occurs," Enid Greene Waldholtz,
an attorney with SPA member Novell, Inc., told the Senate Subcommittee on
Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks. "The present law denies the owners of
unregistered copyrights equal access to the courts and equal access to
meaningful remedies for copyright infringement,'' she said.

Copying computer programs without permission from the copyright owner
constitutes copyright infringement, punishable by civil and criminal
penalties. "Software piracy is illegal, deprives software publishers from
just payment for their products, and undermines the industry's
contribution to the US economy," according to SPA Executive Director Ken
Wasch.

Nonetheless, software piracy is widespread. Studies suggest that every
legal copy of software in circulation has at least one "pirate," or
illegally copied, twin. During 1990 and 1991, SPA estimated that piracy
cost software developers over $3 billion in lost revenues in the US
alone.

SPA testified before the Senate in support of the Copyright Reform Act of
1993. The measure, which was introduced by Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-NM),
would permit copyright owners to sue copyright infringers and, if
successful, recover statutory damages and attorneys' fees for unregistered
copyrights.

Current law requires that copyrights owned by US citizens but not all
foreign citizens must be registered with the US Copyright Office before a
lawsuit is brought. This imposes an undue burden on domestic publishers,
giving foreign competition an unfair advantage.

The law also precludes prevailing copyright owners from recovering their
attorneys' fees and court-awarded statutory damages from the infringer
unless, in most circumstances, the copyright was registered before
infringement occurred. Many owners of unregistered copyrights are
surprised to discover they are limited to recovering actual damages and a
measure of the infringer's profits, which can be quite small and difficult
to prove. According to Waldholtz, "When legal fees can exceed the actual
damages that could be recovered and attorneys' fees cannot be recovered at
all, software copyright owners often decide that enforcing their rights is
simply not worth the price." The cost is especially high for small
software companies, who can least afford the losses from infringement, but
also cannot afford to devote the necessary time and staff to register
conscientiously.

Waldholtz emphasized the compelling business and legal reasons why many
software publishers do not register their copyrights: "Software and
manuals are created and updated so frequently that registration may be
overlooked for new releases, or there may be confusion about the need to
register," she said. For many, the demands of the marketplace are a more
pressing concern. "The priority for software producers is creating
leading-edge software and putting it into the distribution channel, not
complying with Copyright Office formalities."

SPA has been a leader in protecting copyrights in computer software. As
part of its well-known and highly successful anti-piracy program, SPA has
pursued over 600 lawsuits and audits against organizations that unlawfully
use or distribute software for personal computers. SPA also supported a
law enacted last year that, under some circumstances, make it a felony to
copy software illegally. Waldholtz is an experienced copyright litigator
and is in charge of Novell's anti-piracy program, pursuing as many as 30
enforcement action at any given time.

SPA is the principal trade association of the personal computer software
industry, with a membership of over 1000 companies. SPA members range from
well known companies, such as Novell, Adobe, Apple, Computer Associates,
IBM, and Symantec, to hundreds of smaller companies, all of which develop
and market business, consumer, and education software. SPA members sold
more than $30 billion of packaged software in 1992, accounting for more
than half of total worldwide sales.

Software Publishers Association
1730 M St, Northwest, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20036
202-452-1600,  Fax: 202-223-8756

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