Q&A: Copying Software
Copying Software
Question
Hello Rabbi.
A question—
At one point, a certain software program was bought for me as a gift. In order to run it, it requires a disk containing the program’s database (in addition to the software itself, which is installed on the computer itself).
In the meantime, I lost the disk (somewhere in my house).
I copied the contents of the disk from a friend, except that it was a more expanded version of the software (without very major differences).
My questions are—
1. Was I allowed to do that? And assuming not—would I have been allowed to burn an identical version to the one I had used?
2. Am I currently allowed to use it?
3. Since making the copy requires a bit of sophistication, should I have refrained because of the idea that “once something is stolen from a thief, one gets a taste for theft”? And after the fact, what is the ruling?
I’m marking the question under the general category, because it is both halakhic and moral.
Answer
First of all, why not contact the company, tell them it was lost, and ask for a new disk? In my opinion, usually they provide one (perhaps for a nominal fee). That is the preferred route, and you can still do that.
I think that in such a situation you are permitted to copy the disk in an identical version. Halakhically and morally this seems straightforward to me. Legally, I do not know, but disk copying is a well-trodden path and not really enforced, and it is doubtful how significant the law is here.
Copying a more advanced version is, in my opinion, forbidden, and you may also not use it unless you pay them (the difference).
The consideration of acquiring a taste for theft and the effect on our character traits does indeed exist here. The habit of copying takes root quite easily, and it is proper to avoid it. But it is hard for me to say that this creates an actual obligation.
Thank you very, very much