user interface copyright

There have been several attempts, mostly by big US software

companies, to enforce patents and copyright on user

interfaces. Such legal action aims to restrict the use of

certain command languages or graphical user interfaces to

products from one software supplier. This is undesirable

because it either forces users to buy software from the

company whose interface they have learned or to learn more

than one interface. An analogy is often drawn with the user

interface of a car - the arrangement of pedals and steering

wheel etc. If each car manufacturer was forced to use a

different interface this would be very bad for car users.

Following a non-jury trial, which began in early January 1987,

a federal judge ruled on 28 June 1990 that keyboard commands

and on-screen images produced by Lotus DevelopmentCorporation's popular 1-2-3 spreadsheet are protected by

copyright. Paperback Software International and

subcontractor Stephenson Software Ltd. who lost the case,

argued that the copyright applies only to the inner workings

of the software. US District Judge Robert Keeton wrote that

"The user interface of 1-2-3 is its most unique element and is

the aspect that has made 1-2-3 so popular. That defendants

went to such trouble to copy that element is a testament to

its substantiality". Defence attorneys had argued that the

Lotus commands represented "instructions for a machine rather

than the expression of an idea".

Soon after this decision, on 2 July 2 1990, Lotus sued

Borland International and the Santa Cruz Operation for

producing spreadsheets (Quattro, Quattro Pro and SCO

Professional) whose interfaces could be configured to look

like 1-2-3's.

(1994-11-16)