How far does software copyright extend?

Question

Imagine an existing software product A. If I create my own product which is simply a feature-by-feature, menu-by-menu copy of A, am I violating A's software copyright?

I'm asking this because there's a particular product in the market which is indescribably shoddy, but it is successful simply because there's no competition. So I'm thinking of building the exact same thing, which is much, much faster, prettier and easier to use and yet has the exact same general structure. Should I be worried about copyright violation before I start coding?

Answer 1

I have to agree with the previous commenters who are advising you to consult a lawyer. It is interesting to note that this kind of thing dates back to when Apple computer sued Microsoft (and lost) for copying the Macintosh user interface design in the first versions of Windows. The final judgement essentially boiled down to "you can't copyright a user interface".

Answer 2

Don't know what country you're in, assuming the US. The relevant things to look into are:

• Design patents
• Copyright of look and feel, which doesn't appear to have happened yet thankfully. Apple v. Microsoft
• Trademark of look and feel (trademarks and copyright are two very different beasts)

My advice: find a good lawyer who specializes in copyright and trademark. I suspect a complete clone of the user interface would be in an area gray enough that they might sue thinking they have a reasonable case, whether they win or not doesn't matter if you go bankrupt fighting the suit (plus dealing with any injunctions which I could definitely see the Judge imposing on distribution of your software.

Answer 3

IANAL, but if the solution isn't pattented you might have a chance that you actually can do this.

For example: if someone invents a car and doesn't pattent it, you may also build a car. (I might be oversimplifying the issue here, but it's basically amoung those lines.)

It also depends on where you live, etc. Each country has it's own set of rules...

Answer 4

In the United States, copyright does not apply to ideas.

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ31.html

Copyright applies to software, but only as a "literary work".

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wwp

So as long as you don't have access to the source code, there can't be a claim you violated the copyright by ... copying!

See Reverse engineering.

Of course, I share the opinion that copyright shouldn't really apply to software.

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/misinterpreting-copyright.html

And patents are a legal trap rather than a promoter of innovation.

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/patent-reform-is-not-enough.html

Answer 5

Imagine if every application or web developer really did hire a lawyer before creating a better application or web service.

Don't plagiarize, don't steal, study, identify the problems and weaknesses with competitor products, and by golly if you can create something better, DO IT!