What is the ruling on a man who buys a program, copies it, and then returns the original on the pretext that he did not like it, knowing that the copy rights are reserved?

The Shaykh : How can Allah guide you? I am repeating this to you. This is strange. If I understood you correctly, what are you buying?

The questioner : I buy anything, anything, for example a pen, a television, a video, a computer, anything at all. Meaning, whatever you buy, you have the right to return the same thing without damage, of course, defects, as you bought it. You return it and take back the price you paid.

The Shaykh : Okay, what do these people who sell like this benefit from?

The questioner : By Allah, I do not know. This is the sales system in America. There is something you can return, of course, within a certain period: one month, three months, six months. You can try it during this period. If you do not like it, or for any reason, sometimes they ask for the reason for the return, and sometimes they do not ask. And most of the time they do not ask, because they consider this an intrusion into your privacy.

The Shaykh : Okay, so if they ask and you answer with an answer they do not accept?

The questioner : They do not return it.

The Shaykh : They do not return it.

The questioner : They do not return it. For example, if you buy a telephone device and a handset and you tell them it is defective, okay.

The Shaykh: Yes

The questioner : If they find that the defect was from the start, that it did not become defective because of the user or the buyer, they return it and give you the money. But if they discover that the defect occurred after the purchase, they do not return it.

The Shaykh : Yes, now the matter has become reasonable.

The questioner : Yes, or if, for example, you say it does not suit me, okay. This "does not suit me" is general and vague, it has no specific meaning. Okay, so in this case they say, okay, give us the device or give me the item, we will give you the full amount of money, not diminished.

The Shaykh : Strange.

The questioner : Yes, this is one of the wonders of America, and Allah is the Helper.

The Shaykh : Okay, so what is the question?

The questioner : The question is that we have computer program tapes that are downloaded onto tapes. We buy these tapes, or some of the brothers buy these tapes. It is written on them in English, of course, that the copyright and copy rights are reserved. What do the brothers do? The brothers buy this, for example, a computer program, they buy it and pay its full price. Okay, and they have the option if they wish to... this program or to return it. Okay, they buy this program, they copy it. Okay.

The Shaykh : And they return it.

The questioner : This program, and they return it as it was, as they bought it from the store, and they say, for example, this did not suit us, or this did not please us, or it is difficult, or it is below what I want, and so on from the reasons. Meaning, a person may fabricate them, and may lie, and may not lie. He uses euphemism, saying "I do not like it," "it did not suit me," with all politeness and all silence. They return the money to him, and he takes this tape. This copying process, even though it is written on the tape that the copy rights are reserved. The process of copying the tape: first, buying the tape, copying it, returning it, or returning it to the store and taking the money after copying. The benefit. Let us speak in jurisprudential terms. Meaning, you bought the item with the benefit. You took the benefit, or you copied the benefit. The tape was not harmed at all. No material was subtracted from the tape, and no harm or deficiency occurred to the tape. And you return the tape as it was, exactly as you bought it, except that you benefit from the benefit of the tape and store it on the computer. Have I clarified this to you, or not?

The Shaykh : Very active.

The questioner : Praise be to Allah. What is the religious ruling on this?

The Shaykh : My brother, this is without doubt, unfortunately, the morals of the disbelievers have become the morals of the Muslims. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us the best manners and taught us the best education. And among what he taught us was that he said: So if a Muslim bought that tape on which it is written that it is not permissible to copy it, and if he bought it and did not return it, but he made copies from it and started trading with them, this is not permissible. So what do you say about the fact that after he made a copy from it, he returned the original from which it was copied, claiming something like what you mentioned of explicit, open lying, or of the euphemism that is not permissible? And I do not imagine that it is not accompanied by something of explicit lying. The important thing is that this is betrayal, and it is not permissible for a Muslim to fall into such a thing. But, unfortunately, some Muslims have preceded the Jews, from whom the dry materialistic rule originated, which says that the end justifies the means. These people justify their actions by saying that there is a benefit in making a copy of that tape, and what harm did we do to the tape?