The Deteknics Quest metal detector contained an exact copy of the Teknetics T2 software - it was a “pirate” copy. First Texas Products brought a suit against them for copyright infringement. Deteknics settled and the case was dismissed “with prejudice” (that means they admitted their infringement and made a cash settlement with first Texas). They now go under a different name.
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/...nix,_Inc_et_al
Trust me - Dave, as well as everyone else at First Texas was plenty PO’d about it and they were all glad when Deteknics got what was coming to them, mainly a stiff settlement. It sent a useful message to the pirates out there - don’t come to western countries where courts take real cases - you will be challanged and you will loose.
You can copy a lot of things - but the copyright laws protect any “art” and software has been included in that definition, just like music or writing.