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From: bnfb@june.cs.washington.edu (Bjorn Freeman-Benson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.mac,misc.legal
Subject: What is the Copyright Issue?
Message-ID: <4611@june.cs.washington.edu>
Date: 5 Apr 88 04:03:04 GMT
Reply-To: bnfb@uw-june.UUCP (Bjorn Freeman-Benson)
Organization: U of Washington, Computer Science, Seattle
Lines: 22

What is the issue that the Apple <--> Microsoft/HP suit trying to settle?  
    I think the fundamental issue is what part of software is 
    copyrightable and/or patentable.

Consider music, books and chemicals:
  * One can copyright a piece of music or a book.  One does not
    copyright the process of typing it.
  * One can patent molecules (such as anti-freeze).  One does not
    patent the process or the machines to make it.

The weak analogy in software is:
  * One can NOT copyright the software.  One can only copyright the
    source and executable.

Does this make sense?  
    No.  

The copyright/patent applies the useful product, not to some intermediate
stage.  What the courts have failed to realize is that the useful product
in software is how it works, NOT the source code that produced it.

Bjorn N. Freeman-Benson