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S.O.S. v. Payday

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

886 F.2d 1081 (1989)

Facts

Payday, Inc. (defendant) was in the business of providing payroll services to the entertainment industry. Payday contracted with S.O.S., Inc. (plaintiff) to use S.O.S.’s payroll-processing software in Payday’s business. The contract expressly provided that S.O.S.’s software programs remained the property of S.O.S. and that S.O.S. retained all rights of ownership in its software. Payday copied one of S.O.S.’s programs and prepared a modified version of it without S.O.S.’s permission. S.O.S. brought an action for copyright infringement, and the district court entered summary judgment in favor of Payday, finding that Payday could not have infringed S.O.S.’s copyright in the software because Payday had a license to use it. S.O.S. appealed.

Rule of Law

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Issue

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Holding and Reasoning (Fletcher, J.)

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A "yes" or "no" answer to the question framed in the issue section;
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The procedural disposition (e.g., reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

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