The Permissibility of Software Reverse Engineering
Jonathan Band, Masanobu Katoh · 2019
In January, 1989, the European Community Commission issued a proposed directive that appeared to prohibit virtually all forms of reverse engineering. In response to Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers Association&s;s and Software Publishers Association&s;s lobbying activities, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) entered the fray. The CCIA represented the views of plug-compatible and open systems vendors such as Amdahl, Storage Technology Corporation, and Unisys. In response to Accolade&s;s and CCIA&s;s Section 102 argument, Sega v. Accolade contended that "Mince &s;human perceptibility&s; is not a condition to copyright protection, &s;human imperceptibility&s; cannot be a defense to infringement." Sega complained that Accolade was free riding on its extensive investment, but the Supreme Court had rejected the sweat-of-the-brow rationale for copyright protection. The Federal Circuit began its analysis of disassembly with a recital of the policy of copyright: granting authors exclusive rights in their expression to provide them with the incentive "to share their creative works with society.".