SAS
Institute Inc. developed the SAS System: an integrated set of programs which
enables users to carry out data processing and analysis tasks such as
statistics.
SAS
Institute Inc. brought a copyright infringement case against World Programming
LTD (WPL), which had lawfully acquired a licence for the SAS System in order to
study and observe the SAS System and create alternative software capable of
executing application programs with globally the same functionalities. However,
WPL did not have access to the source code of the SAS System, nor was WPL
allowed to copy it.
The
European Court of Justice ruled that "Article 5(3) of Directive 91/250 must be interpreted as
meaning that a person who has obtained a copy of a computer program under a
licence is entitled, without the authorisation of the owner of the copyright,
to observe, study or test the functioning of that program so as to determine
the ideas and principles which underlie any element of the program, in the case
where that person carries out acts covered by that licence and acts of loading
and running necessary for the use of the computer program, and on condition
that that person does not infringe the exclusive rights of the owner of the
copyright in that program".
