Title: Regarding Copyright Laws and Income From Royalty Question: In a business transaction, can a seller retain certain right of the product he sold, such as copyright? In other words, can the seller allow the purchasers only to have "the right to use" but not "the right to own"? Sometime a statement such as "this product is licensed, not sold" can be found in some products' purchase agreement. Are these valid in Islam? Must all the rights be transferred from the seller to the purchasers to render the transaction valid in Islam? I once heard a view that copyright is not a valid concept in Islam. The argument is that when someone purchases something, the right for the purchased good must totally be transferred from the seller to the purchaser. Hence, according to this view, the purchaser can do anything with the product he purchased including copying or reselling the product, even without the consent of the original seller or producer. If there is no sale transaction, such as if someone reproduces from a stolen copy, then only, according to this view, the right still belongs to the original owner. Is this view valid? Assume that someone purchase a pirated software. Is the transaction between the purchaser and the seller of pirated software valid in Islam? Did the purchaser commit any sin? Did the purchaser breach any of the original owner's right under Islamic law? Is it permissible in Islam to earn income from royalty for the sale of books, information, etc? Answer: As I have stated in a few of my earlier responses, nothing can be termed as prohibited - or Haraam -- without a clear directive of the Shari`ah to the effect. Thus, a qualified sale agreement, as is the case under the copyright laws, cannot be termed as prohibited unless it is clearly against any of the directives of the Shari`ah . It is, therefore, the responsibility of the person who considers such a sale agreement to be prohibited in the Shari`ah to provide the bases of his opinion from the Qur'an or the Sunnah . In the absence of such a basis in the Qur'an or the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh), such a qualified sale agreement cannot be considered as disallowed in Islam. In principle, the transaction involving the sale/purchase of pirated software (or other copyright material) should not be encouraged, as it obviously involves an infringement of the rights of the writer or the producer of the software. Nevertheless, under certain circumstances, as for instance where the software (or the copyright material) has become a semi-necessity - as in the case of educational usage etc. - and yet it cannot be purchased, while conforming to the copyright laws, a deviation on the part of the purchaser may be seen with some sympathy. Violation of the copyright laws, on the part of the seller, is in effect a violation of a contract and is, therefore, not allowed by the Islamic Shari`ah , except under circumstances where such a violation is morally justified. As far as the buyer of such software (or copyright material) is concerned, his actions can at the most be considered as cooperating in a vice or a sin ( Ta`aawun `ala al-ithm ), which he should try his utmost to avoid if he has an option. Income from royalty is allowed in Islam, as there is nothing in the directives of the Shari`ah , on the basis of which it could be considered as prohibited. I hope this helps. 23 rd June 2000