SAS Institute Inc. v. World Programming Ltd.
European Union Court of Justice
Case C-406/10 (2012)
- Written by Eric Miller, JD
Facts
SAS Institute Inc. (SAS) (plaintiff) developed and copyrighted a computer program designed to enable statistical analysis. The program allowed users to run their own scripts using the language of the SAS system. World Programming Ltd. (WPL) (defendant) created alternative software that allowed users of the SAS system to run identical scripts using the same language. However, despite the imitative nature of WPL’s software, WPL apparently never had access to SAS’s source code. SAS brought a copyright-infringement action against WPL in the England and Wales High Court of Justice, which referred the matter to the European Union Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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