Downloading Computer Programs from the Internet and Selling Them
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner says: Some people buy computer programs and then put them on the internet for free. What is the ruling on taking them and selling them, knowing that this causes a loss to the manufacturing company, and knowing that the manufacturing companies are mostly disbelievers?
Answer:
If the company that manufactured this has prohibited anyone from copying it without its permission, then this is not permissible, because it is taking people’s rights without right; it is injustice and usurpation, and it is not permissible except with their permission. But if they allow people to copy from it and permit that, then there is no harm. Yes.
The questioner says: Some people buy computer programs and then put them on the internet for free. What is the ruling on taking them and selling them, knowing that this causes a loss to the manufacturing company, and knowing that the manufacturing companies are mostly disbelievers?
Answer:
If the company that manufactured this has prohibited anyone from copying it without its permission, then this is not permissible, because it is taking people’s rights without right; it is injustice and usurpation, and it is not permissible except with their permission. But if they allow people to copy from it and permit that, then there is no harm. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-47-منهج أهل السنة والجماعة|صالح الفوزان|العام|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (47:40)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.