The application of copyright laws to Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) is not a simple matter of extending traditional literary practices because of the legal complications introduced by the use of computers to store and reproduce materials. In addition, CAI courseware poses some new problems for the definitions of educational usage. Some precedent CAI copyright arrangements exist; e.g., the formation of one's own private company to market courseware. The University of Illinois has established a policy for ownership, copyright, and royalties in its recent commercial marketing of the PLATO system. In weighing the potential negative and positive aspects of copyright law on CAI development, it seems that the benefits and drawbacks that copyright law brings must ultimately be accepted as consequences of widespread CAI usage. (VT)