UK judge delivers computer program ruling
A judge at The High Court of England & Wales has cleared World Programming (WPL) of infringing the copyright in SAS Institute’s computer programs.
Software producer SAS developed SAS System, a program for processing and analysing data. WPL, a company based in the UK, produced an alternative software program capable of executing application programs written in SAS language. SAS sued WPL for copyright infringement in 2009.
Mr Justice Arnold, who ruled on the case in July 2010 but then asked Europe’s highest court for guidance on it, dismissed three of SAS’s claims on January 25.
As he did in 2010, Arnold found that WPL had infringed SAS’s copyright in the manuals it published about its program, World Programming System. But the company said it withdrew these manuals after the 2010 ruling.
SAS sued WPL on four counts of copyright infringement. In 2010, Arnold upheld one claim covering the manuals but referred two questions on the interpretation of the 1991 and 2001 Directives to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU).The court ruled in May 2012 that copyright protection does not extend to the functionality of a program or its programming language.
The CJEU said allowing programs to be copyrighted would hinder technological progress and industrial development.
Ruling on the case for the second time, Arnold said today: “I dismiss all of SAS Institute’s claims except for its claim in respect of the WPS Manual. That claim succeeds to the extent indicated in my first judgment, but no further.”
Hamish Sandison, IT law partner at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP in London, welcomed the introduction of a much-needed degree of certainty into an uncertain area of copyright law.
“He [Arnold] strikes a fair balance between the rights of the first software developer and a newcomer by reaffirming that the first developer may prevent the newcomer from getting a free ride from literal copying of its program manuals, while at the same time making clear that the newcomer is at liberty to copy the functionality of the first program.”
He added: “It is disappointing perhaps that the court did not rule on whether a programming language can be protected as a distinct copyright work. But this point was not pleaded in time and it must await another day."
WPL said in a statement that in 2010 it immediately withdrew the manuals found to infringe SAS’s, but that they will be “reissued in due course with deference to the findings of the court”.
It added: “World Programming is delighted with the outcome. The ruling confirms the legality and legitimacy of the WPS software.”
A spokesman for SAS, John Boswell, said: “SAS does not agree with the court’s decision and is planning to file an appeal. SAS is also vigorously pursuing a case against WPL in the United States, which has not yet been tried.”
The ruling is available here.
