Directed at students, teachers, and administrators who illegally copy (pirate) software in the elementary and secondary schools, this paper clarifies the copyright law as it applies to software and suggests five reasons why school personnel break the law. Research is cited which indicates that the act of copying software penalizes software publishers and consumers as well as the software programmer. A district-wide policy is suggested as one way to eliminate "softlifting" in public school systems, and steps that must be taken before adopting such a policy are outlined. Also discussed are strategies for enforcing district policy for eliminating piracy of computer courseware at the K-12 grade levels. (DJR)