Reverse Engineering a Controversy: Technology and Content

Information Today, Vol. 22, No. 1, p. 17, January 2005

3 Pages Posted: 13 Aug 2010

Date Written: January 2005

Abstract

In what may be a surprise to some, not everything that the information industry creates can be copyrighted. Copyright protection only applies to works that are original and expressive, not to works that consist of facts, ideas, concepts or processes. A classic, and still controversial example of this distinction, are “white pages” telephone directories. A 1992 Supreme Court decision held that the directory entries (name, address & phone number), were facts, and that the process (publishing in alphabetical order) was not creative enough to warrant copyright protection. Dozens of free online white pages Websites and proposed database protection legislation have been the result of that decision.

A more complex situation arises when dealing with digital information and software. Many if not most digital products will contain both copyrighted elements and non-copyrighted elements. Unlike reading a book, however, accessing the non-copyrighted content may not be practical due to technological measures or licensing restrictions. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) strengthened these restrictions by making it illegal to circumvent a technological protection measure.

A controversial solution to this situation, often applied in software applications, has been reverse engineering. This process generally involves digging down into an application to identify its underlying source and object codes in order to separate the protected elements from the unprotected elements. By then using the knowledge gained from the code and the unprotected elements, developers create new products, or variations on the original products. This was recently tested in a closely watched case involving Lexmark printers and toner cartridges.

Keywords: copyright law, lawsuits, reverse engineering, code, technology, software, Lexmark, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, DMCA, digital information, databases

Suggested Citation

Pike, George H., Reverse Engineering a Controversy: Technology and Content (January 2005). Information Today, Vol. 22, No. 1, p. 17, January 2005, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1657089

George H. Pike (Contact Author)

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law ( email )

375 E. Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
United States
312-503-0295 (Phone)
312-503-9230 (Fax)

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