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Fatwa CenterUsing copyrighted software for personal training
Question
Is it possible to get a direct answer, please, rather than examples of other answers? May Allaah reward you.
I use some software at home that has gone beyond its trial period, therefore, as I am now infringing the copyright, I only use this software to study so that I can work better at my workplace, and I do not sell it. I use the same software at my workplace. The one I use at work has been legally paid for by the company. My question is: are my earning and job halal given that I use a pirated version at home to learn and then use those skills at work? May Allaah reward you.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
What you mentioned in the question does not affect the lawfulness of your earnings from your work as long as your job is lawful in itself and you perform it as you should. In other words, your earnings are halaal (lawful.
Scholars held different views regarding the issue of copyrights. The view adopted at Islamweb is that those rights are recognized in an absolute manner and that it is impermissible to infringe on them because they belong to their holders and have, in contemporary times, financial value that can be traded. These rights are recognized by the sharee'ah, as stated in the resolution of the council of the Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) in its fifth session held in in Kuwait in 1405 AH.
Some scholars held that it is allowed to use copyrighted programs for personal use and not for commercial use in case one has the need to use them as underlined in fatwa 159509. However, it is more prudent to avoid doing so. The Prophet said, "Give up what is doubtful for that which is not doubtful." [An-Nasaa'i and At-Tirmithi narrated it on the authority of Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali, may be pleased with him - At-Tirmithi graded it saheeh (sound)]
Allaah knows best.
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