Proving Copyright Infringement of Computer Software: An Analytical Framework
Bruce Perelman · bepress Legal Repository · 1985
The personal computer was given the unprecedented accolade of being selected Time Magazine's first "Machine of the Year."See Friedrich, The Computer Moves In, TIME, Jan. 3, 1983, at 14. See also Taylor, supra note 1, at 56; Boraiko, The Chip, 162 NAT'L GEOGRAPHIC 421 (1982).4. For opinions specifically addressing the copyrightability of computer software and video games, see generally Apple Computer, Inc. v. Formula Int'l Inc., 725 F.2d 521 (9th Cir.1984) (both operating system programs and computer application programs protected by Copyright Act); Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp., 714 F.2d 1240 (3d Cir.1983) (action for copyright infringement, patent infringement, unfair competition, and misappropriation; district court's denial of motion for preliminary injunction reversed), cert.dismissed, 104 S. Ct. 690 (1984); Williams Elecs., Inc. v. Artie Int'l, Inc., 685 F.2d 870 (3d Cir.1982) (copyrightability of video games); Atari, Inc. v. North Am.Philips Consumer Elecs.Corp., 672 F.2d 607 (7th Cir.) (copyrightability of video games), cert.denied, 459 U.S. 880 (1982); Stem Elecs., Inc. v. Kaufman, 669 F.2d 852 (2d Cir.1982) (copyrightability of audiovisual display of video game software upheld); Midway Mfg.Co. v. Artie Int'l, Inc., 547 F. Supp.999 (N.D. Ill.1982) (copyrightability of video games), aft'd, 704 F.2d 1009 (7th Cir.1983); Tandy Corp. v. Personal Micro Computers, Inc., 524 F. Supp.171 (N.D. Cal.1981) (object code in read only memory chips proper subject matter for copyright protection); Data Cash Sys., Inc. v. JS&A Group, Inc., 480 F. Supp.1063 (N.D. Ill.1979) (object code in ROM chips uncopyrightable subject matter), affld on other grounds, 628 F.2d 1038 (7th Cir.1980).5. A patent may be obtained to protect "any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof."35 U.S.C. § 101 (1982).6. See generally Boorstyn & Fliesler, Copyrights, computers and confusion, 56 CAL.ST.