Proprietary software

<p>Proprietary software is <a href="/facts/Computer_software/RP79lVSW">software</a> that grants its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner a legal monopoly by modern <a href="/facts/Copyright/7GHEWEx9">copyright</a> and <a href="/facts/Intellectual_property_law/PqHW9mVP">intellectual property law</a> to exclude the recipient from freely sharing the software or modifying it, and—in some cases, as is the case with some patent-encumbered and <a href="/facts/EULA/Qy0okC6a">EULA</a>-bound software—from making use of the software on their own, thereby restricting their freedoms.
</p><p>Proprietary software is a <a href="/facts/Subset/SJGERmbA">subset</a> of non-free software, a term defined in contrast to <a href="/facts/Free_and_open-source_software/1cHtjLCB">free and open-source software</a>; non-commercial licenses such as <a href="/facts/CC_BY-NC/6AV3V7UJ">CC BY-NC</a> are not deemed proprietary, but are non-free. Proprietary software may either be closed-source software or <a href="/facts/Source-available_software/axtrf73j">source-available software</a>.
</p>

Proprietary software open-in-new

Proprietary software