[Fsfe-ie] Copyright protection for computer programs: ACM paper

Aidan Delaney adelaney at cs.may.ie
Mon Oct 11 11:06:36 CEST 2004


Hey all,
	Here's an ACM paper that I've picked up on my travels
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=356643.356647
It's interesting given its age.

Here's the abstract (which I'm sure is reasonable to copy).  Any OCR
gliches are the fault of xpdf :)


The method of copyright, although neglected in the past, is a method to consider
for legal protection of commercial computer software and programs. Copyright is
particularly directed to written text, and it is therefore applicable to the text
form or listing of computer programs and software, and to all derivatives thereof.
When the simple formal requirements for copyright have been met, it immediately
provides claim to exclusive rights in the published text. Unauthorized copying,
translation, performance, or making derivative versions, of a copyrighted text
then constitutes a copyright infringement with legal penalties. Included among
the things protectable by copyright are: computer programs, documentation and
diagrams, the meticulous details of a debugged program, program translation such
as from FORTRANto ALGOL, compiling of programs, running a program, software
systems and their command languages, languages and their compilers, and the
microprogramming required for a computer to mimic a defined instructional set.
Copyright may be more statable than patent or trade secret for commercial
protection of most typical programs and software Copymght of computer
software may speed the achievement of program portability, and standardization
of software systems. Utilization of, and acceptance of, copyright protection in the
industry is expected to increase as computer professionals learn of its features and
advantages.

-- 
Aidan Delaney   email: adelaney at cs.may.ie
                web:   http://www.cs.may.ie/~adelaney
                gpg:   http://www.cs.may.ie/~adelaney/public_key.asc
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