Innovation and imitation fuel the intense competition that underlies the technological progress taking place in the computer industry. As the competitive battleground shifts increasingly to the software sector, a debate has arisen over whether the principal legal regime for protecting the asset value of computer programs – the copyright law – encourages or inhibits that competition. Industry executives, computer lawyers, law professors and lawmakers alike are participating in the debate, the outcome of which will shape the future of the computer industry. This book deals with the question of the scope of copyright protection for computer programs. Offering a blend of scholarship, technical rigor and readability, it aims to dispel the confusion and controversy that surround the application of copyright law to computer programs. It shows why the copyright law is the appropriate regime for software protection and explains the nature of copyright protection for software. Alternating between essay format and case study, the book provides counsel to those interested in this “interface” between technology and law.

Author Biography

ANTHONY L. CLAPES is a Senior Corporate Counsel at IBM and is presently responsible for managing IBM’s intellectual property and antitrust litigation. For many years he has represented IBM in large and complex cases. Much of his recent casework has related to software copyrights. Mr. Clapes has lectured on copyright law as it applies to computer programs in numerous symposia, and he is the co-author of an influential law article on the subject: Silicon Epics and Binary Bards: Determining the Proper Scope of Copyright Protection for Computer Programs, 34 UCLA L. Rev.1493 (Winter 1987).

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