Legal Question in Technology Law in Virginia
Copyright Protection for Online Applications
I am building an online application which is similar to a competitors. I have made a great effort in ensuring that my database and code functions are named differently than theirs, however the overall functionality remains the same except for that mine has less features. What copyright protection can they claim over my product in this case? I want to know before I launch my product.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Copyright Protection for Online Applications
Copyright protects the expression, rather than the functionality. You can have identical functionality as long as you do not copy their code or screen text/shots. However, if their functionality is patented, you could have problems; also, if you did not copy the code verbatim but looked at it and copied even bits and pieces, or copied the structure of the code, you could have problems (copying need not be strictly literal).
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