Quaid Software Explained

Quaid Software, Ltd.
Industry:	software
Hq Location:	Toronto, Ontario
Key People:	Robert McQuaid (President)
Products:	Copywrite

Quaid Software, Ltd. was a software publisher based in Toronto, Ontario.^[1] The company's best known product was Copywrite which company president Robert McQuaid claimed was "for making legal backup copies of a protected program."^[1]

The company was the subject to a lawsuit claiming that the software was used for making illegal copies. The lawsuit was dismissed because Section 117 of the US Copyright Act specifically allows:

• the new copy is being made for archival (i.e., backup) purposes only;
• you are the legal owner of the copy; and
• any copy made for archival purposes is either destroyed, or transferred with the original copy, once the original copy is sold, given away, or otherwise transferred.^[2]

The Court concluded that, because of federal copyright law, its provisions (Louisiana License Act) were preempted (by the US Copyright Act) and Vault's license agreement was unenforceable.

See also

• Vault Corp. v. Quaid Software Ltd.

See also

• Vault Corp. v. Quaid Software Ltd.

Notes and References

1. News: Software suit alleges violation of shrink-wrap law . . 24 June 1985 . 16 January 2013 . Warner, Edward . 22.
2. News: Copyright and Digital Files. September 5, 2017. 1.