LOTUS 123 MACRO COMMANDS CODE
In so doing, Borland did not copy any of Lotus’s underlying computer code it copied only the words and structure of Lotus’s menu command hierarchy.
LOTUS 123 MACRO COMMANDS PRO
The district court found, and Borland does not now contest, that Borland included in its Quattro and Quattro Pro version 1.0 programs “a virtually identical copy of the entire 1-2-3 menu tree.” Borland III, 831 F. Quattro included enormous innovations over competing spreadsheet products.” In Borland’s words, “rom the time of its initial release . . . Borland’s objective was to develop a spreadsheet program far superior to existing programs, including Lotus 1-2-3. Thus, Lotus 1-2-3 macros shorten the time needed to set up and operate the program.īorland released its first Quattro program to the public in 1987, after Borland’s engineers had labored over its development for nearly three years.
LOTUS 123 MACRO COMMANDS SERIES
Then, to execute that series of commands in multiple parts of the spreadsheet, rather than typing the whole series each time, the user only needs to type the single pre- programmed macro keystroke, causing the program to recall and perform the designated series of commands automatically. Lotus 1-2-3,like many computer programs, allows users to write what are called “macros.” By writing a macro, a user can designate a series of command choices with a single macro keystroke. In all, Lotus 1-2-3 has 469 commands arranged into more than 50 menus and submenus. Users manipulate and control the program via a series of menu commands, such as “Copy,” “Print,” and “Quit.” Users choose commands either by highlighting them on the screen or by typing their first letter. Lotus 1-2-3 is a spreadsheet program that enables users to perform accounting functions electronically on a computer. In particular, we must decide whether, as the district court held, plaintiff-appellee Lotus Development Corporation’s copyright in Lotus 1-2-3, a computer spreadsheet program, was infringed by defendant-appellant Borland International, Inc., when Borland copied the Lotus 1-2- 3 menu command hierarchy into its Quattro and Quattro Pro computer spreadsheet programs. This appeal requires us to decide whether a computer menu command hierarchy is copyrightable subject matter. [Editor's note: This case is discussed in Legal Protection of Digital Information in:Ĭhapter 2, Section III.C.
0 kommentar(er)
