Copyright in Shareware Programs Distributed on the Internet

The intellectual property of software developers has been protected by copyright since amendments to the Australian Copyright Act in 1984. In the first Australian case to consider copyright in a shareware program distributed on the Internet, the Court held that the Internet service provider OzEmail had infringed Trumpet Software's copyright in Trumpet Winsock 2.0B by arranging for the program and a set of altered data files to be distributed with other software on diskette as a give-away inserted in copies of computer magazines. The implications of this case for software developers, distributors and users are discussed.