Download Understanding Copyright Infringement of Computer Software: A Look into Case Law and more Slides Law in PDF only on Docsity! WRAP-UP POINTS: INFRINGEMENT • To sustain an action for infringement, copyright owner must prove • 1. Ownership of valid copyright • 2. Copying by D • 3. Unlawful Appropriation by D Docsity.com WRAP-UP POINTS: INFRINGEMENT • To show ownership of a valid copyright, P must show originality, copyrightable subject matter, and compliance with statutory formalities • If P did not author work, he must show proper transfer documents or show a relationship that supports claim for copyright Docsity.com NON-LITERAL COPYING • In Nicholls v. Universal Pictures (2d Cir. 1930), Judge Learned Hand made clear that non-literal copying could be actionable. • He stated that copyright “cannot be limited literally to the text, else a a plagiarist would escape by immaterial variations”. Docsity.com COMPUTER SOFTWARE • To what extent is computer software protectable under copyright law? Docsity.com COPYRIGHTABILITY OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE • Computer software, by its nature as written work intended to serve utilitarian purposes, doesn’t fit in well with our existing IP system. • In 1974 Congress established National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) to study implications of new technologies and recommend revisions to IP law. Docsity.com EARLY CASES IN 1980s • Conflict between hardware manufacturers • Focus on to what extent literal copying of computer software violates copyright law • Apple v. Franklin (3d Cir. 1983) clearly establishes that an operating system is copyrightable and that exact copying of computer code infringes programmer’s copyright in the code. • No cases since have held otherwise Docsity.com SECOND GENERATION SOFTWARE CASES • To what extent can competitors copy nonliteral elements, such as program’s underlying structure, sequence, or organization. • How far does copyright protection extent beyond the literal elements of a work? Docsity.com NON-LITERAL COPYING • Should non-literal copying of computer software be protected under copyright law? • What are the economic arguments in favor and against this? • What about the jurisprudential arguments? Docsity.com Computer Associates Int’l v. Altai, Inc. (2d Cir. 1992) • Was there access? • Did the Court follow Whelan? Why or why not? Docsity.com MORE on COMPUTER ASSOCIATES • Can programs with little protectable material be freely copied under the Altai test? • Many commentators, e.g., Pamela Samuelson, have praised Altai’s approach. • Many large computer companies dislike it. • Nevertheless it has been adopted by many courts - indeed all courts since 1992 have preferred Altai over Whelan. Docsity.com SUBSEQUENT JUDICIAL ADOPTION OF ALTAI • Unfortunately, not all courts have approached the abstraction-filtration- comparison analysis in precisely the same way • The 10th Circuit, in Gates Rubber is well- known for having moved beyond Altai Docsity.com
