Fwd: Software conforming to spec breaches copyright in written specification]

[David Johnson]

On Sat, 16 Sep 2000, kmself at ix.netcom.com wrote:

> INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY - copyright - whether written specifications
> for the operation of poker machines could be
> original literary works - whether the specifications were a product of the
> applicant's work, or simply reflected a common industry
> standard

Now I'm hardly an Australian lawyer, but it seems to me that there is
no problem. An implementation of the spec is not a derivative work any
more than a building is a derivative of it blueprints. 

I would agree that specs can be copyrighted, but so what? If the poker
machine company were worried about look-alike ripoffs, then get a
trademark on the design, and don't try to squeeze copyright law into
shapes it was not meant to be in.

-- 
David Johnson
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