united-states software licensing online-piracy
Is it piracy to obtain software you purchased in an alternate way?
<p>Lets say you purchased software in the 90s or early 2000s, but lost the license key and or the disc. Another possibility is the company is no longer supporting and or does not provide older versions of its software.</p>

<p>What you do have:</p>

<ul>
<li>the receipt with your name on it.</li>
<li>the box from over 15 years ago.</li>
<li>a statement from your bank proving it was purchased with a credit card with your name on it with the same date as the receipt.</li>
</ul>

<p>The computer with this software crashes and the license key is lost in a unrecoverable hard drive. </p>

<p>In layman's terms, is it illegal to pirate the software by some means and crack it to get the product that was paid for to work?</p>

<p>To be clear in this scenario, the item in question is a box with a CD containing the software and inside the same box a key is included to activate said software. This box is purchased from a retail store.</p>

<p>The pirated software will only be used by the original owner as a replacement and not distributed or sold.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Is it illegal to create an unauthorized copy of the software.</p></li>
<li><p>Is it illegal to circumvent the software license key checks?</p></li>
<li><p>Is the receipt enough to prove you own the key and if not why?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there law to protect the consumer from having to purchase the software twice in this situation?</p></li>
</ol>

<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/1201" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The DMCA prohibits circumvention of technological measures that effectively control access to a copyrighted work.</a> So you can't legally "crack" the software, period -- even if you own a disc containing the software <em>and</em> have a valid license to use it, a license to use the work is not authorization to circumvent access controls.</p>

<p>So if the disc is copy-protected, by my understanding of the DMCA, you're kinda screwed. (The company might be willing to provide you a replacement copy, even if only to maintain the illusion that the software is "licensed, not sold". But you can't make one yourself.)</p>

<p>Likewise, if you have a copy of the disc but have lost the license key, you're screwed. Even if you could prove beyond any doubt that you are the licensee, there's not any law i'm aware of that would compel the copyright owner to provide you another license key. And courts have held that <a href="https://www.leagle.com/decision/20081606555fsupp2d105111511" rel="nofollow noreferrer">distribution of license keys without authorization is a violation of the DMCA</a>. So whoever might provide you another key, if they're not the copyright holder, has broken the law.</p>

<p>If you managed to copy the disc from a friend (<em>without circumventing any kind of copy protection</em>), and had your own license key, you might be in a better position. Many EULAs allow you to make a backup copy. Even if they didn't, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/117" rel="nofollow noreferrer">copyright law does</a>, so there's a possible case for fair use.</p>

<p>"Piracy", when you are not talking about murderous thugs attacking ships, usually means unethical behaviour related to copying copyrighted works. Piracy is about ethics, "copyright infringement" is about things that are illegal. Obviously then if you paid for the software, and didn't sell it on, or gave it away, then doing whatever it takes to run the software is not piracy. </p>

<p>You bought the software with a license and a license key. You therefore have the right to use it. You may not have evidence that you have the right, and you may not have the license key that makes it technically possible, but neither is required to make the use <em>legal</em>. </p>

<p>Consider that if you went to court, no reasonable court would require that after 15 years you still have any evidence of the purchase. After two years, a court could say "if you cannot show evidence of the purchase, it is more likely that you made an illegal copy than that you own the software legally." After 15 years, that's not the case. And having <em>some</em> evidence of a legal purchase makes any claims that you didn't buy the software fail. </p>

<p>And it seems that using someone else's licensing key doesn't actually fall undert the DMCA, at least not according to the linked text. </p>
