Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding The Impact Of The Digital Millennium Copyright Act On The Open Source Model Of Software Development, Theodore C. Mccullough

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Mr. McCullough discusses the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and the traditional and open source models of software development. He argues that the "DMCA supports the 'Traditional Model' of software development, at the expense of the 'Open Source Model,' by limiting the ability of open source developers to write programs that increase interoperability and by limiting their ability to engage in peer review for such programs." He also discusses the competing interpretations of the Reverse Engineering Safe Harbor and proposes statutory solutions to the overall lack of protection afforded to software developers using copyrightable materials to promote interoperability.

Quo Vadis?, Arthur J. Gajarsa

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

At the Fifth Annual Honorable Helen Wilson Nies Memorial Lecture in Intellectual Property, held by Marquette University Law School on April 22, 2002, the Honorable Arthur J. Gajarsa delivered a speech entitled "Quo Vadis?" or "Where goest thou?" After articulating the strides made in intellectual property law over the past 20 years, Judge Gajarsa proposed and explained three technical areas where the court may see the most action over the next 20 years: (1) software and business methods; (2) biotechnology; and (3) nanotechnology.

Legal Protection For Software: Still A Work In Progress, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz

Articles

Software began as geekware-something written by programmers for programmers. Now, software is a business and consumer staple. Cryptic character-based user interfaces have given way to friendly graphical ones; multi-media is everywhere; people own multiple computers of varying sizes; computers are connected to one another across the globe; email and instant electronic messages have replaced letters and telephone calls for many people.

The issue of whether the law should protect software seems quaint to us now. Over the past twenty-five years, legislatures and courts have concluded that copyright, patent, trade secret, trademark, and contract law all can be used to protect …