The Copyright Act

The Copyright Act

Persons who unlawfully copy and distribute software or other material using computers may be subject to punishment for criminal copyright infringement.FN57 The criminal copyright infringement statute has three elements:

1. infringement of a copyright;
2. done willfully; and
3. for commercial advantage or private financial gain, or by reproducing or distributing (within any 180-day period) one or more copies or phonorecords of one or more copyrighted works with a total retail value of more than $1,000.FN58

Mere unauthorized copying of computer software may satisfy the first element. To establish the first element of copyright infringement, the prosecution must prove the existence of a valid copyright, and that the defendant copied original elements of the copyrighted work.FN59