Real Life Trial Issues in Software Copyright Infringement Cases Or How Those Look and Feel Lawyers Are Proving Look and Feel: Reviewing Demonstrative Techniques

Authors

Claude M. Stern

Abstract

"Look and feel" or sequence, structure, and organization opinions generally do not include visuals of exhibits the lawyers used to convince the court or jury that one program was or was not substantially similar to another. As a result, it is difficult for look and feel lawyers to determine what sort of evidence influenced a precedential decision. This Article discusses the low-technology and high-technology approaches to proving and defending software copyright infringement cases. The author analyzes cases involving claims of visual similarity of the user interface, components of the user interface, or the sequence, structure, and organization of the user interface or the underlying source code and provides actual exhibits used in several precedential decisions.

Recommended Citation

Claude M. Stern, Real Life Trial Issues in Software Copyright Infringement Cases Or How Those Look and Feel Lawyers Are Proving Look and Feel: Reviewing Demonstrative Techniques, 16 UC Law SF Comm. & Ent. L.J. 559 (1994).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_comm_ent_law_journal/vol16/iss4/1