The First-to-Market Computer Software Company owns the copyright to highly successful spreadsheet program – Blossom 3-2-1 – which has dominated the worldwide market for several years. Recently, Clone Software Co. devised a look-alike program that does everything that the Blossom 3-2-1 program does, except that the Clone sells for only one-tenth the price of the original. First-to-Market has sued Clone for copyright infringement. Clone defends itself by saying that the coding of the its program is entirely different from that of Blossom 3-2-1, and that the only similarity between the programs is that the images that appear on the computer screen and the key sequences used to operate the program are identical. Has Clone infringed First-to-Market’s copyright? Explain!
The First-to-Market Computer Software Company owns the copyright to highly successful spreadsheet program – Blossom 3-2-1 – which has dominated the worldwide market for several years. Recently, Clone Software Co. devised a look-alike program that does everything that the Blossom 3-2-1 program does, except that the Clone sells for only one-tenth the price of the original. First-to-Market has sued Clone for copyright infringement. Clone defends itself by saying that the coding of the its program is entirely different from that of Blossom 3-2-1, and that the only similarity between the programs is that the images that appear on the computer screen and the key sequences used to operate the program are identical. Has Clone infringed First-to-Market’s copyright? Explain!
