Public domain software and freeware
Software that is original in the sense that it is an intellectual creation of the author benefits copyright protection.
Non-original software does not come into consideration for copyright protection and can, in principle, be used freely. Public domain software is considered as software to which the author has given up all rights and on which nobody is able to enforce any rights.
This software can be used, reproduced or executed freely, without permission or the payment of a fee. Public domain software can in certain cases even be presented by third parties as own work, and by modifying the original work, third parties can take certain versions of the public domain software out of the public domain again.
Freeware is not public domain software or FOSS. It is proprietary software that you can use without paying a license cost. However, the often strict license terms need to be respected.
Examples of freeware are :
Adobe Reader, Skype and Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun (this game was sold as proprietary in 1999 and is since 2011 available as freeware).
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