Court of Appeal Finds All Roads Lead to Rome

1987-01-01

COURTOFAPPEALFINDSALLROADSLEADTOROM

by
HuguesG.Richard
LEGERROBICRICHARD,Lawyers
ROBIC,Patent&TrademarkAgents
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Ifthereeverweredoubtsastowhetherlawwasascienceoranart,the
readingofthereasonsforjudgmentoftheFederalCourtofAppealof
CanadainMACKINTOSHCOMPUTERSLTD.etal.v.APPLECOMPUTERINC.et
al.andJAMESBEGGetal.v.APPLECOMPUTERINC.etal.(CourtNo.A-275-86
JudgmentrenderedatOttawaon13October1987)shouldconvince
everyonethatitisanart.Rarelyhavesuchdistinguishedjuristscometothe
sameconclusionsviasomanydifferentroutes.
TheseweretwoappealsfromjudgmentsrenderedbyMadamJusticeReed
(1986),10C.P.R.(3d)1.AsMr.JusticeHugessenputsit:”TheAppellantshavein
popularparlance,piratedtwocomputerprogramsusedbytheRespondents
intheirAppleIIcomputer.Itiscommongroundthattheprogramsinquestion,
whenwritten,astheyoriginallywere,inletters,symbolsandfiguresknownas
6502assemblycode,wereoriginalliteraryworkssubjecttocopyrightandthat
thecopyrightthereinvestsinrespondentAppleComputerInc.Butthe
Appellantshavenotcopiedtheprogramswritteninassemblycode.They
havenotcopiedanywritingatall.Whattheyhavedoneisreproduce
apparentlybymechanicalmeans,theelectricalcircuitryofasiliconchip
(ROMchip)inwhich,bythemagicofcomputerscience,theprogramsare
embodied.ThequestionatissueistoknowwhethertheAppellantshave
infringedtheRespondents’copyrightintheoriginalassemblycodeprograms.
”
Attrial,thequestionwasansweredintheaffirmative.Onappeal,itwasalso
answeredintheaffirmativebyJusticesMahoney,Hugessen,and
MacGuigan,butfordifferentreasons.Threedistinctcopyrightissuesareof
interestinthedecision:theissueoftranslation,theissueofreproduction,and
thequestionofinfringingcontrivances.
Translation.MadamJusticeReedhadfoundattrialthattheconversionof
theprogramsinissuefromassemblvlanguageinwhichtheywereoriginally
writtentohexadecimalmachinelanguagewasatranslationfallingwithins.

3(1)(a)oftheCopyrightAct.MrJusticeMahoneydisagreedwiththatfinding
andstatedthatsuchaconversionwasnotatranslationcontemplatedbythe
Act.
Mr.JusticeHugessenalsofoundthatMadamJusticeReedhadgonewrong
onthetranslationissue.Hewrote:”Icannotaccept,asthetrialjudgeseems
tohavedone,thattheAppellants’chipswerea’translation’ofthe
Respondents’programs,contrarytoparagraph3(1)(a).Inmyview,
‘translation’isusedhereinitsprimarysenseoftheturningofsomethingfrom
onehumanlanguageintoanother.”
Mr.JusticeMacGuiganwasnotascategoricalastheotherJustices.Hedid
quote,withoutdisagreeing,passagesofMadamJusticeReed’sjudgmenton
thequestion.Hedidnot,however,finditnecessarytodecidetheissue
becauseofconclusionsbasedonthequestionofreproduction.
Reproduction.Mr.JusticeMahoneyfoundthattheembodimentofthe
programsintheROMchipscanbeconsideredareproductionoftheoriginal
programs,andthattheexclusiverighttoreproductionwastheRespondents’
prerogative.Incomingtothisconclusion,hesaid,hewasinfullagreement
withMr.JusticeMacGuigan,whohadinhisreasonsforjudgment
distinguishedthejudgmentsofamajorityoftheHighCourtofAustraliain
COMPUTEREDGEv.APPLE(1986),65A.L.R.33.BothMessrs.JusticeMahoney
andMacGuiganhadlittlehesitationinarrivingatsuchaconclusion.Itwas
notaseasyforMr.JusticeHugessen.
ThelatteralsocametotheconclusionthattheAppellant’schipsarea
reproductionoftheassemblycodeprogramsinwhichtheRespondentsheld
thecopyright.Hefound,however,thatitwasnecessaryforhimtoexpand
somewhatontheprocessbywhichhearrivedatthatconclusion.Itseemed
obvioustohimthatwhenonereproducesawork,thatresultmustbea”work”
inorderthatthereproductionbeconsideredaninfringement.Ifwhatis
beingreproducedisaliterarywork,asisthecasehere,theresultmust
necessarilybealiterarywork,i.e.,expressedinprintorwriting.However,in
thepresentcase,hefoundthattheresultofthereproductionwasnota
literaryworkbut”open-and-closedelectricalcircuits”embodiedinasilicon
chip.OnewouldhaveexpectedMr.JusticeHugessentoconclude,because
oftheforegoingthattherewasnoinfringementofthecopyright.Hedidnot.
Onthecontrary,hethenwentthroughawellstructuredreasoning,attheend
ofwhichheconcludedthatanyonewhomakesandsellstothepublic
anything(i.e.,theAppellants’ROMchips)designedorintendedtoreproduce
acopyrightedworkgivesanimpliedauthorizationtothepurchasertoeffect
suchreproduction.Hefoundthatthemeansofreproductiondidnotitself

constituteareproductionwithinthemeaningofsubsection3(1)oftheAct,
butthattheimpliedauthorizationtoreproduceconstitutedinfringement.
ChipsasInfringingContrivances.Mr.JusticeMahoneygaveindicationsthat
hesawsomemeritintheargumentthattheROMchipswereinfringing
contrivanceswithinthemeaningofs.3(1)(d).However,Mr.JusticeMahoney,
agreeingwithMr.JusticeMacGuigan,foundthatitwasnotnecessaryto
decidethatissue,inviewofhisfindingthattheRespondents’computer
programsembodiedintheirROMchipswerereproductionsofthecomputer
programswritteninassemblylanguageinwhichcopyrightisadmittedto
havesubsisted.
ForMr.JusticeHugessen,ROMchipsarenotcontrivancesbymeansofwhich
theworkmaybemechanicallyperformedordeliveredwithinthemeaningof
s.3(1)(d).Hecametothisconclusionbasedonhisanalysisofthedefinitionsof
thewords”performance”and”delivery”.
Conclusion.EventhoughBillC-60,abilltoamendtheCopyrightAct,should
becomelawintheforeseeablefutureandthereforecuremanyofthe
deficienciesofthepresentCopyrightActconcerningcomputersoftware,this
judgmentoftheFederalCourtofAppealwillremainanimportantdecision,
notsomuchforitsconclusionsasforthereasoningbehindthem.Allroads
leadtoROM
Publishedat(1987),1W.I.P.R.6-7underthetitleCourtofAppealFindsAll
RoadsLeadtoRom.
LEGERROBICRICHARD,1987.

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