Legal Protection of Computer Programs in the United Kingdom英国计算机程序的法律保护.pdf

Northwestern Journal of International Law Business Volume 5 Issue 2 Summer Summer 1983 Legal Protection of Computer Programs in the United Kingdom Timothy S. Bishop Follow this and additional works at : /njilb Part of the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Timothy S. Bishop, Legal Protection of Computer Programs in the nited Kingdom, 5 Nw. J. Intl L. Bus. 269 (1983-1984) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern niversity School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Northwestern Journal of International Law Business by an authorized administrator of Northwestern niversity School of Law Scholarly Commons. Legal Protection of Computer Programs in the United Kingdom Timothy S. Bishop * I. INTRODUCTION The computer software and firmware industries spend an enor- 2 mous sum of money each year on the development of new programs. Developing, marketing and maintaining an individual program may involve a substantial investment. A potential for profit obviously exists if a successful program can be copied, thereby saving development and other related expenses,3 or if a computer user can run a program with- out paying the usual fees to its owner. It is hardly surprising that con- siderable attention is now being focused on the means by which owners may secure legal protection against the copying or unauthorized use of their programs. In the United Kingdom, a computer program may not be pat- Lecturer, Northwestern University School of Law. A preliminary draft of this article was written for, and with the use of the resources of,the Chicago