More extensive help regarding fair use is available .
Uncopyrighted materials may be copied freely and without restriction. The Copyright Office Circular 22 explains how to determine the copyright status of a work. Copyrighted software may be copied without the copyright owner's permission only in accordance with the Copyright Act. Section 117 of the Act permits making an archival back-up copy. Most software, however, is licensed to the user and the terms of the license agreement may give the user permission to make copies of the software in excess of the archival copy permitted by the Copyright Act.