Copyright Can't Block Software Reverse Engineering: Court
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Software companies can’t rely on copyright rules to prevent rivals from “reverse engineering” computer programs, the European Union’s highest court ruled.
SAS Institute Inc., the world’s biggest closely held software company, lost a bid at the EU Court of Justice to extend copyright protection to the functions of a computer program. World Programming Ltd. infringed SAS’s copyright by developing a system that copied the company’s manuals, SAS said at a September hearing.