Michigan Law Review Volume 91 Issue 3 1992 Defining Computer Program Parts Under Learned Hand's Abstractions Test in Software Copyright Infringement Cases John W.L. Ogilive University of Michigan Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr Part of the Computer Law Commons, Intellectual Property Law Commons, and the Judges Commons Recommended Citation John W. Ogilive, Defining Computer Program Parts Under Learned Hand's Abstractions Test in Software Copyright Infringement Cases, 91 MICH. L. REV. 526 (1992). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol91/iss3/5 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Michigan Law Review at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. NOTE Defining Computer Program Parts Under Learned Hand's Abstractions Test in Software Copyright Infringement Cases John W.L. Ogilvie INTRODUCTION Although computer programs enjoy copyright protection as pro tectable "literary works" under the federal copyright statute, 1 the case law governing software infringement is confused, inconsistent, and even unintelligible to those who must interpret it.2 A computer pro gram is often viewed as a collection of different parts, just as a book or play is seen as an amalgamation of plot, characters, and other familiar parts. However, different courts recognize vastly different computer program parts for copyright infringement purposes. 3 Much of the dis array in software copyright law stems from mutually incompatible and conclusory program part definitions that bear no relation to how a computer program is actually designed and created.