Quaid Software

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Quaid Software, Ltd.
Industrysoftware
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario
Key people
Robert McQuaid (President)
ProductsCopywrite

Quaid Software, Ltd. was a software publisher based in Toronto, Ontario.[1] The company's best known product was Copywrite which company president Robert McQuaid claimed was "for making legal backup copies of a protected program."[1]

The company was the subject to a lawsuit claiming that the software was used for making illegal copies.[1] The lawsuit was dismissed because Section 117 of the US Copyright Act specifically allows:

  • the new copy is being made for archival (i.e., backup) purposes only;
  • you are the legal owner of the copy; and
  • any copy made for archival purposes is either destroyed, or transferred with the original copy, once the original copy is sold, given away, or otherwise transferred.[2]

The Court concluded that, because of federal copyright law, its provisions (Louisiana License Act) were preempted (by the US Copyright Act) and Vault's license agreement was unenforceable.

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References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Warner, Edward (24 June 1985). "Software suit alleges violation of shrink-wrap law". Computerworld. p. 22. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Copyright and Digital Files". p. 1. Retrieved September 5, 2017.

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