U.S. Agency Rules Software Copyrights Protect Displays on Computer Screens

By Bob Davis
The Wall Street Journal

June 7, 1988

WASHINGTON -- The Copyright Office, in a boost to software publishers, ruled that software copyrights protect displays on computer screens from infringement.

Protecting software, either by patents or by copyrights, has been a muddled field of law in recent years. In a major case this year, Apple Computer Inc. sued Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. in March for copying certain graphical display features that Apple popularized in its Macintosh personal computers. An Apple spokeswoman, however, said yesterday's ruling doesn't directly affect that case.

Besides Apple, Lotus Development Corp. has tried to protect innovative computer displays by bringing copyright-infringement cases against competitors. But in cases of this type, it hasn't been clear whether copyright protection extends to instances in which companies, using different computer codes, generate displays that look like those of popular programs.

The Copyright Office, a part of the Library of Congress, ruled that when a software company copyrights a program, it automatically copyrights the graphic and textual displays produced by the program. At the same time, the Copyright Office said publishers don't need to register any display or textual screen separately.

"We think the screen will be protected, no matter what the code" used to create it, said Richard Glasgow, the Copyright Office's assistant general counsel.

As an example, Mr. Glasgow said that if Apple copyrights its Macintosh software, the copyright "probably" protects the trash-basket symbol Apple uses to tell users how to discard files. Apple would only need to prove it has "an original drawing" of the trash basket to be covered by the copyright, he said.

The ruling gave a boost to Apple and Lotus shares yesterday. In national over-the-counter trading, Apple rose $1 to close at $44, and Lotus closed at $23, up 50 cents.

Decisions of the Copyright Office, which sets rules governing copyrights, are influential in federal courts that interpret those rules. Copyright protection lasts for 50 years after the death of an author or for 75 years if a company commissions the work and retains the copyright.

Jason Mirabito, a Boston copyright attorney, said the copyright decision gives "greater protection and certainty" to software publishers. Had the Copyright Office required publishers to register every computer screen, he said, judges would likely have interpreted the protection narrowly to cover only exact copies of the disputed display screens.

But Mr. Mirabito said the broader copyright protection would likely encourage judges to rule that software publishers can protect their programs from competitors that merely "look and feel" like popular programs, but aren't exact copies.

However, computer veterans worry that if protection is extended too broadly, it may harm consumers and retard innovation, because it will slow the development of standardized displays. With such displays, computer users wouldn't have to learn a new set of commands with every new software program.

Moreover, "look and feel" cases are especially murky. If Shakespeare were alive, Mr. Mirabito speculated, he could have a copyright infringement case against "West Side Story" because it's very similar to "Romeo and Juliet."

The Apple spokeswoman said the ruling doesn't affect the suit against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, filed in San Jose, Calif., because Apple had filed separate copyright applications covering both the "literary and audio-visual" aspects of the display features it wanted to protect.

In its suit, Apple also accused Microsoft of exceeding the limits of licenses granted to it by Apple to use certain display features. At the time, computer industry analysts and intellectual property experts interpreted the suit as Apple's attempt to preserve a technological edge just as rivals were starting to close the gap.

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Brenton R. Schlender in San Francisco contributed to this article.

Copyright (c) 1988, Dow Jones & Co., Inc.