Copyright extends to other rights too, not just copying: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright For instance, your link m

Copyright extends to other rights too, not just copying: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright For instance, your link makes no mention of moral rights. Also, per se is an important qualifier in that sentence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases_%28P%29#per_se http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_phrases_%28P%29#p... In the case of software licenses such as the GPL, it's a weird amalgalm of the two. The only thing which gives you the right to make a copy of the software and use it is the license. If the license becomes invalid for whatever reason (eg. revoked by Zed) then you have an illegal copy of the software, and are pursued under copyright law, not contract law.