The Legal Protection of Computer Software

Abstract

During recent years it has become increasingly evident both that computer software, and especially the ideas and skills which go into its preparation, ought as a matter of justice to have legal protection and that there are various problems arising from the protection of computer software under existing laws. The World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva has been examining the problems and has proposed some model provisions directed specifically to the protection of computer software (WIPO, 1978). The Organisation justifies the need for legal protection by reference to the volume of investment in computer software, the expected developments in the uses of computer software, the incentive to disclose the technology implicit in computer software, the security required for trade based on the use of computer software and the general vulnerability of computer software, in view of the case with which it may be copied and relayed. The Organisation looks at existing forms of legal protection — that is, by way of patent laws, copyright laws and laws on unfair competition and the protection of trade secrets — and concludes that provisions specially designed for the protection of computer software are justified.