Re: Software application copyright opinion

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "Roger Schlafly" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>"Lee Hollaar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>> even forensic software analysis firms that specialize in doing
>> just that.  Many cases involve software allegedly copied, although
>> the two implementations are in different programming languages.
>
>Sure, the employer could hire experts to give opinions that
>the code has some similarities. But what makes this case
>atypical is that there would be no literal copying, no access
>to the original at the time of the creation of the new work,
>but some similarities that are a direct result of the facts that
>the programs are functionally similar, and that the programmer
>has his own coding style. Can the consulting firms distinguish
>legal and illegal code in such a scenario? Have such distinctions
>ever held up in court? I doubt it.

The case isn't that atypical.  I've seen a number like it, when an
employee has left one company for a competitor, and written a
similar application.

Sometimes the experts say that there isn't a substantial similarity
in the copyrightable aspects, sometimes they say there is.  In the
latter, the case often settles.  (Most patent and copyright infringement
suits settle before trial, in my experience.)

And again, "access to the original AT THE TIME OF THE CREATION OF
THE NEW WORK" isn't the criteria, unless you are just considering
blatant literal copying.  Access to the work at any time taints
somebody, and the copying doesn't have to be a conscious effort.