Software Protection Under Copyright Law

Abstract

Although copyright policy has been governed by the need to protect the interests of authors, it also attempts to protect the society's interests. Building upon the foundation provided by the international copyright treaties, which specify minimum standards of legal protection, the copyright system has evolved from being a rather vague area of the law into a system of central importance. Technological advances do have a huge impact upon the operation and effectiveness of copyright law. These advances spawn new industries and new methods for reproduction and dissemination of works of authorship, which will give new opportunities for authors. In the past seven decades, we have witnessed rapid developments in the field of communications and information technology which have exponentially expanded and extended the ability of human beings to communicate. The digital computer will stand out as one of the most important contributions to the great communication and information revolution which happened during the period. Undoubtedly, the scope of copyright protection for computer software is a major source of worry for both proprietary and open source software developers. This is because the scope of the program will ultimately determine what aspects of a program are forming part of the protectable core as copyrightable expression, and what features will be available for a future developer to copy. The analysis of the scope of copyright protection should be determined by delicately balancing the author's creative rights with the public interest in access. This chapter deals with the legal issues involved in protection of software by providing a comprehensive coverage of the important international developments. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017.