In a decision issued 2 May 2019, the Colombian Copyright Office condemned IMDICOL LTDA to indemnify Microsoft on the amount of COP 12,659,999, for the use of unlicensed software including Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Office Professional Plus 2010, Office Professional Plus 2013, and Office Professional Plus 2016.
Within the decision, the Colombian Copyright Office points out that software, both as source and object code, may be protected as a literary work. Specifically, Law 1915 of 2018 establishes a legal presumption with regard to not only authorship, but also in relation with ownership. In this case, the person under whose name or pseudonym the work is disclosed, is presumed to be the copyright holder. Therefore, with the new presumption, the circumstances regarding ownership of the work are presumed to be true, as well as the authorship and ownership as such (even regarding derivative ownership).
The Colombian Copyright Office also dictates that any act concerning the exploitation of a work, must previously be expressly authorized by the author or copyright holder, unless the act consists of making a copy on a computer, a security backup, or adapting the work for its exclusive use. Without the mentioned authorization or license, whoever carries out the exploitation act will incur in copyright infringement.
