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Buying Software
Understanding Legal Ownership
For many small business owners and managers, purchasing software is confusing. One reason is that when you acquire software, you don't actually buy or own the program. - Instead, you receive a copy of the software license, which gives you the right to use the program. Every Microsoft software installation requires a license.
Because software is licensed, you have an obligation to make sure that your business runs legal and genuine software. However, counterfeit software can be very hard to recognise. Situations where software use does not comply with legal requirements include:
| • | Installing more copies of software than you paid to license |
| • | Informal disk-swapping among employees and colleagues |
| • | Use of counterfeit software |
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