|
From: | Hyman Rosen |
Subject: | Re: The GPL and Patents: ROFL |
Date: | Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:59:52 -0000 |
User-agent: | Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.8) Gecko/20100802 Thunderbird/3.1.2 |
On 8/18/2010 11:35 AM, RJack wrote:
"When a work itself constitutes merely an idea, process or method of operation, or when any discernible expression is inseparable from the idea itself, or when external factors dictate the form of expression, copyright protection does not extend to the work."; Lexmark International, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc., 387 F.3d 522 (6th Cir. 2004). You are *never* going to be able to evade: "17 USC § 102. Subject matter of copyright: In general. (b) In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work."
There is nothing to evade, and the Atari v. Nintendo case that you yourself quoted tells you as much: <http://digital-law-online.info/cases/24PQ2D1015.htm> (cites removed) In conformance with the standards of patent law, title 35 provides protection for the process or method performed by a computer in accordance with a program. Thus, patent and copyright laws protect distinct aspects of a computer program. Title 35 protects the process or method performed by a computer program; title 17 protects the expression of that process or method. While title 35 protects any novel, nonobvious, and useful process, title 17 can protect a multitude of expressions that implement that process. If the patentable process is embodied inextricably in the line-by-line instructions of the computer program, however, then the process merges with the expression and precludes copyright protection. This court, in applying Ninth Circuit law, must determine whether each component of the 10NES program “qualifies as an expression of an idea, or an idea itself.” This determination depends on “the particular facts of each case.” You are never going to be able to avoid the word "inextricably".
[Prev in Thread] | Current Thread | [Next in Thread] |