Re: Double Creation

Carlos de Miguel <ectil06[_at_]sis.ucm.es> wrote:
>
> Harold Federow <hfederow[_at_]u.washington.edu> wrote:
> >
> > It depends a little what you mean by "the same computer program."
>
> I usually say that what law protects is your original creation. Thus,
> it is irrelevant if it was expressed as a flowchart, code line-by-line,
> etc. I think the originality is mainly in the functionality, and I do
> not know in what extent it can be content in its line-by-line
> development.

See below. Copyright protects expression. You would have a much better argument with patent protection, which may in many cases protect the algorithm itself.

> I think that a program must be identified by its flow diagram
> (functionality), because the transcription to different platforms may
> be simply a question of mechanical work. Although I am not sure.
> (CASE tools or whatever, they are imperfect, but could be improved and
> translate more perfectly )

The problem is that for the most part, at least under U.S. law, copyright does not extend to the functionality, but rather the expression. Thus, implementation of an algorithm is much more likely to be protected than the flow chart describing it. (Note of course that the flow chart itself may be protected, but this doesn't preclude someone coding from the flowchart).

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The preceding was not a legal opinion, and is not my employer's.
Original portions Copyright 1997 Bruce E. Hayden,all rights reserved
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Bruce E. Hayden                      bhayden[_at_]acm.org               
Austin, Texas                        bhayden[_at_]copatlaw.com