Copyright licenses： a comparative study between Android and Microsoft Office

【Abstract】It is not difficult to find that when downloading a software and ready to use， a pop-up window appears. The contents of the pop-up window are some terms of use agreement. Clicking on “agree” means reaching an agreement with developer of the software. In a traditional sense， the agreement is like a contract between the developer and the user. Professionally， it is the software developer that agrees the users to use its software， which is called “authorized”. In terms of licensing， the situation of different software is not the same. The most common is that some software are free to download， while some need to pay for download.

【Key words】authorized； copyright licenses； license agreement； open-source software； closed-source software

【作者簡介】Zhang Mingyu， Xi’an International Studies University School of Translation Studies.

Copyright licenses： a comparative study between Android and Microsoft Office

Recently， everyone knows that the world breaks out Ransomware crisis， tens of thousands of computers are contracted. According to the latest news from foreign media， the Indian government requests Microsoft to cut down the prices of Windows. Why is it related to the price of software？ Because Microsoft’s Windows operating system is required to be paid for its using rights， instead of being free like Apple’s iOS， macOS， and Google’s Android， ChromeOS， etc. In the technology industry， not only most of the operating system， but also software are free and open to use， like Apple and Google. Their business mode is to provide free infrastructure software， and earn money from paid app and Internet services. By this token， the types of software are generally free and not free ones. This paper takes Android as an example of free software and make a much deeper comparison with Microsoft Office in the term of license agreement. Before comparing， there are two concepts to know so as to have a better and more professional study.

Concept

1. Open source code

Open source code refers to a software distribution mechanism. In general， only the author of the software or the copyright owner has the source code of the program. Some authors of the software would like to disclose the source code， which is called “openness of source code”. The source code which is open to public is called “open source code”. But in the strict sense， some so-called “open source code” does not conform to the definition and conditions， because the author may set restrictions for the disclosure of the source code， for example limit the objects that can read the source code， limit the derivatives and so on.

Classifying software according to whether the source code is open， it can be classified into two types： open-source software（also called free software） and closed source software.

2. License agreement

2.1 What is license？

A license allows an intellectual property rights holder （the licensor） to make money from an invention or creative work by charging a user （the licensee） for product use. Licenses protect proprietary rights in things such as software and other computer products. Use a license to give someone permission to do a certain activity or to use property.

2.2 What is license agreement？

There is no magic to giving someone a license for property use. In business， a written license agreement is a must. The license agreement can be straightforward and enforceable.

Briefly， license refers to the right of the user， such as installment， recompilation and so on. Agreement refers to obligation of the user such as no reverse engineering and modification on the software. If not complying with obligations， that means a breach of agreement， and then the license becomes invalid， that is “infringement of copyright”.

2.3 Types of license agreement

According to the concept “open source code” and the types of software， it is mainly divided into two types： open-source license agreement and closed-source license agreement.

license agreement of Android

In 2005， Google acquired Android and chose the Apache Software License for Android. Apache Software License is widely used in the open-source software community. It is a permissive license that is conducive to commercial development and proprietary redistribution. Code that is distributed under the ASL and other permissive licenses can be integrated into closed-source proprietary products and redistributed under a broad variety of other terms.

This kind of open-source licenses encourage commercial adoption of open-source software because they make it possible for companies to profit from investing in enhancements made to existing open-source software solutions.

license agreement of Microsoft Office

As a closed-source software， there are more restrictions and this part will take Microsoft Office Viewer 2007 for example. Ahead of the terms， it shows clearly that “ This agreement provides you with some limits， access by permission. In the terms， the users could not：

Change any copyright， trademark or patent statement

Modify or distribute the software

Others have the right to modify it

Publish the software for others to copy

Transfer to another device.

Comparison

By reading the license agreement of Android and Microsoft Office， it is not difficult to find that Android belongs to the open-source software and Microsoft Office belongs to the closed-source code software. There are a lot of differences between these two types of software. This paper selects the most obvious and visible features to compare. These may easier to understand.

Right of users

This is the most important point. As for open-source software， the users could modify the code， and if they likes， they can share the software. However， in closed-source software， the license terms have an extraordinarily high number. As for the restrictions， many users ignore them and just click on the ‘Accept’ .

Cost

Almost all open-source software are free. It only has voluntary contributions to the software. In addition， if someone wants to install the software， just need a CD / DVD or USB and be able to install it to any computer.

The closed-source software will spend money and in general is expensive. For example， Office 2010 Professional costs 4499 yuan； Office 2010 Home Business costs 2799 yuan； Office 2010 Home Student costs 299 yuan，etc.

Commercial use

It is very difficult to make money on the open-source software. Developers make money through the user’s donations and advertising on the website. Donations are mainly used to pay for the host’s expenses and the developer’s salary.

Many closed-source software are used to make money not only through the sale of software but also serve advertisement to make quick money.

Conclusion

For open source and closed source， there is always a fierce debate on which one is beneficial to the development in technical industry. Some people argues that closed-source software is aimed at commerce， while open source is always conducive to the development because of its sharing. People can learn from the source code and meanwhile find some problems to solve. People could learn from each other， make an improvement and make the software more perfect.

References：

[1]Comarison of open-source and closed-source software Retrieve from https：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open-source_and_closed-source_software.

[2]Licensing Agreements Retrieve from http：//intellectual-property.lawyers.com/intellectual-property-licensing/licensing-agreements.html.