Question

In approximately 300 words, outline your thoughts on how we should modify intellectual property laws for the distribution of software

Answer 1

hope this may helps you...

we can modify intellectual property laws of a distributed soft ware...the description is:

Copyrights

While a patent can protect the novel ideas embodied in a software program, a copyright cannot. Copyright protection extends to the particular form in which an idea is expressed. In the case of software, copyright law would protect the source and object code, as well as certain unique original elements of the user interface.

As discussed in last month's issue, the owner of a copyrighted software program has certain exclusive rights (with some exceptions): the right to copy the software, create derivative or modified versions of it, and distribute copies to the public by license, sale or otherwise. Anyone exercising any of these exclusive rights without permission of the copyright owner is an infringer and subject to liability for damages or statutory fines.

As with patents, the exclusive rights afforded under copyright law are intended to reward the creative and inventive efforts of the "author" of the copyrighted work. The exclusive right to control duplication protects the owner of copyrighted software against the competition that would result from verbatim copying of the program's code. Copyright law also protects against indirect copying, such as unauthorized translation of the code into a different programming language.

Copyright protection arises automatically upon the creation of an original work of authorship. There is no need to "apply" for a copyright or register the copyrighted work in order for protection to exist. Generally, the duration of a copyright is the author's life plus fifty years. In the case of software created by an employee in the course of his or her employment, the resulting "work made for hire" would be protected by copyright law for seventy-five years from publication.

In contrast with patents, independent development of a copyrighted work is a defense to an allegation of copyright infringement. Imagine, though, how unlikely it would be for the same thousands of lines of code to be created independently by one not engaged in unauthorized copying. Unlike patents, copyright law affords no protection to the ideas underlying the program. Ideas and concepts are fair game for competitors to the extent they are not protected by patents or trade secrets.

Trade Secrets

A trade secret is any formula, pattern, compound, device, process, tool, or mechanism that is not generally known or discoverable by others, is maintained in secrecy by its owner, and gives its owner a competitive advantage because it is kept secret. The classic example of a trade secret is the formula to Coca-Cola.

A trade secret can theoretically last forever -- for as long as its owner uses reasonable efforts to keep it secret and someone else doesn't independently create or "discover" it.

Many features of software, such as code and the ideas and concepts reflected in it, can be protected as trade secrets. This protection lasts as long as the protected element retains its trade secret status. Unlike patents, trade secret protection will not extend to elements of software that are readily ascertainable by lawful means, such as reverse engineering or independent development.

Trade secrets are not subject to being "infringed," as with patents and copyrights, but are subject to theft. Their legal status as a protectable intellectual property right will be upheld if the owner can prove the trade secret was not generally known and reasonable steps were taken to preserve its secrecy.

Maximizing the economic value of a software asset critically depends on understanding the nature of the intellectual property rights involved and how best to use the available forms of legal protection to protect those rights.