Legal Definitions - proprietary software

Proprietary software refers to computer programs where the creator or owner maintains exclusive legal control over its use, distribution, and modification. Users typically acquire a license that grants them permission to use the software under specific, limited conditions, rather than owning the software itself. This means users are legally restricted from copying, sharing, altering, or reverse-engineering the software without explicit authorization from the owner. The underlying source code, which is the human-readable programming language, is usually kept confidential by the proprietor.

Here are some examples to illustrate proprietary software:

• Imagine a professional video editor who uses Final Cut Pro for their projects. Apple, Inc. owns Final Cut Pro. The editor purchases a license to install and use the software on their Apple computer. They are not permitted to share this software with colleagues to install on their machines without purchasing additional licenses, nor can they legally modify the program's core functionality to create a new video editing tool for sale. This demonstrates how the owner restricts both the distribution and modification of the software.

• Consider a small business that relies on Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) for its daily operations. Microsoft owns this software suite. The business purchases licenses for each employee to use the applications. They cannot legally make copies of the software to give to other businesses, nor can they access or alter the underlying code of Word to create their own custom word processing application. Their use is confined to the terms of the license agreement, which typically prohibits unauthorized copying and modification.

• Think about a popular mobile game, such as Candy Crush Saga, developed by King. King owns the game's software. When a user downloads the game onto their smartphone, they are granted a license to play it. They cannot legally extract the game's code, modify its levels or characters, and then redistribute their altered version as a new game. Furthermore, they cannot sell copies of the original game software to others. This illustrates the owner's control over the software's modification and redistribution, even for a free-to-play application.