Is a website using behind the scenes software X a "copy" or "substantial portion" of software X?

Question

The MIT license says:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

Bob finds a nice piece of MIT-licensed software called X. However, this software is way too geeky for the general public to use. Practically, only IT-savvy persons can use it.

Bob builds a website allowing any person to use the software by way of a few clicks. The software is not included in the code that is delivered to the user's web browser. Rather, it runs deep in the woods on the server side on-demand. Bob starts charging money for the service.

Is Bob required to include X's copyright notice on the website? Is the website a "copy" or "substantial portion" of software X?

If the answer is "Yes" and Bob ignores it, how much money the copyright holders could potentially win by taking Bob to the court?

Related: Do I need to include the full text of the MIT license in the UI of my app?

Answer 1

The web site appears to be interacting with a copy of the MIT-licensed code, which I will call "M". Neither the site nor the code that displays the site is a copy, but if a copy of M is on Bob's server, it might be considered to be a part of the code that supports or "powers" the site.

In general, calling a separate program does not make that program part of the calling program.

Bob must make sure that the local copy of M contains the required copyright notice and "as-is" notice. As Bob is "using" and not "distributing" M, that ends his obligations.

It would be good practice and courteous of Bob to include on his web page where M can be invoked "Powered in part by M, written by {M-author}" or some similar notice, but the MIT license does not impose any such requirement. A license could impose such a requirement, but MIT does not.