Whelan Associates, Inc. v. Jaslow Dental Laboratory, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
797 F.2d 1222 (1986)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Jaslow Dental Laboratory, Inc. (Jaslow Labs) (defendant) manufactured dental prosthetics and devices. Jaslow Labs hired Strohl Systems, Inc. (Strohl) to develop a computer program to manage Jaslow Labs’ business. Strohl’s interest in the program was later acquired by Whelan Associates, Inc. (Whelan) (plaintiff). The program was able to function only on certain types of computers. Seeing an opportunity, Rand Jaslow (defendant) created a computer program called Dentcom that performed largely the same function on other types of computers. Whelan sued Jaslow Labs for copyright infringement. Jaslow Labs argued that the organization and structure of Whelan’s program were not copyrightable. Whelan argued that even though Dentcom was written in different computer language, it nevertheless infringed because the organization and the structure of its code were substantially similar to the organization and structure of the code in Whelan’s program. The district court agreed with Whelan, holding that the copyright protection of Whelan’s program extended to the program’s structure and organization. Jaslow Labs appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Becker, J.)
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