Apple Computer, Inc. v. Mackintosh Computers Ltd.

Apple Computer, Inc. v. Mackintosh Computers Ltd. (1986), 10 CPR (3d) 1, is a Canadian case on copyright law regarding the copyrightability of software. The Court found that programs within ROM silicon chips (in this case, the Autostart ROM and Applesoft in Apple II+ systems) are protected under the Copyright Act, and the conversion from the source code into object code is a form of translation.

The judge held that translation does not include the expression of an idea in another form, but rather only applies to the expression of an idea in another language. A translation has a one-to-one correspondence between works that are expressed in two different languages. In effect, it should simply be a reproduction.

The case was later appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, which affirmed the judgments of both the trial and appellate judges. Not long after the case the Copyright Act of Canada was amended to include software as a "literary work" within the Act.

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  See also

  • Notable litigation of Apple Inc.
  
  
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