I think both "ideas and principles" and "methods and concepts" fall under §
102 (b) of the 1976 copyright act which says:
In no case does
copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea,
procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or
discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained,
illustrated, or embodied in such work.
But I think "structure,
sequence and organization" is different. It has already be established that the
SSO of certain works can be copyrighted.
The twist is that Judge Alsup
is going to interpret
§ 102 (b) and see if it applies after the jury
renders their verdicts. So the judge is trying to steer the jury clear of
considering questions about "ideas and principles" or "methods and concepts"
without prejudicing either party. I have a sinking feeling that he may not
have
handled this quite right because they jury is having a much harder time
than he had anticipated.
This is a very smart judge but he may have
underestimated the power Oracle's attorneys have to obfuscate and confuse.
Perhaps this is all wishful thinking but I think the judge caught on to Oracle's
tricks and realized they did not have a valid case. He had faith that the jury
would also see through the tricks and thus render an early verdict. It feels
like the judge stacked things slightly in Oracle's favor so that if Oracle loses
(which he expected) then they would not have grounds for an appeal. But it
seems that he might have given Oracle too much of an advantage and since the
jury does not have the over-arching view the judge has of all of Oracle's
tricks, they are forced to take Oracle's ridiculous arguments
seriously.
---
Our job is to remind ourselves that there are more
contexts than the one we’re in now — the one that we think is reality.
-- Alan Kay [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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