Like adopting a pet or purchasing a car, you might think that dropping the cash for pricey software means that you’re the sole owner of that one user license. But as we recently discovered ourselves, there is absolutely no truth to that. The reality of the matter is that your collection of software is more like your collection of DVDs—you pay for the right to use it as long as it’s in your possession, but the content and the software itself still belongs to the publisher. A recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit appeals court in Seattle supports this notion. The ruling states that you don’t really own software you’ve purchased if the company who published it says so in their user license.
