The saga between Psystar and Apple is reaching a sad point. Apple has held firm against the claims of the Mac clone maker and Psystar keeps pilling on new Apple offensives. The latest simply claims that Apple cannot sue Psystar ’cause OS X isn’t covered by copyright protection.
We’re still waiting on our Bar results, but something says that Apple didn’t forget to copyright OS X. This is the firm that deals with fake iPods on a weekly basis and you would think that they have the copyright thing down by now.
Apple “is prohibited from bringing action against Psystar for the alleged infringement of one or more of the plaintiff’s copyrights for failure to register said copyrights with the copyright office as required” by law, Psystar claims.
But what if OS X indeed slipped through the cracks and the paperwork for the copyright was never filed?
Well, Psystar probably could continue making its clones on that basis. Other Mac clone makers would probably pop up over night. Then the monkeys and apes would revolt, taking over a small African country. The Euro would become useless, and civilization would collapse. The only humans left alive if Apple forget to copyright OS X would be on the space station and remote Arctic stations. So, as you can see, there is a lot riding on this legal proceeding. God help us all.
Psystar almost got it right or is it write for Apple did not Copywrite they Copyright – confused they are like this comment.
Registering a copyright with the copyright office is not required by law. A “creative work” (which is what Mac OS X is) is automatically copyrighted when it is created (Berne Convention, 1952).
Registering the copyright just makes it easier to sue people later.
docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/california/candce/3:2008cv03251/204881/38/0.pdf
FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF
(Copyright Infringement)
(17 U.S.C. Sections 501 et seq.)
25. Plaintiff incorporates herein by reference each and every allegation in the preceding paragraphs.
Mac OS, Mac OS X, Mac OS X version 10.5, and Mac OS X Server, individual files constituting components of Mac OS, Mac OS X, Mac OS X version 10.5, and Mac OS X Server, as well as various files constituting components of other Apple software and firmware found on Apple-labeled computers are each original works of authorship created by Apple constituting copyrightable subject matter (hereafter, “the Copyrighted Works”). Apple is the owner of, among others, United States copyright registrations TX4-669-971 (Mac OS); TX5-401-457 (Mac OS X); TX6-849-489 (Mac OS X Leopard Version 10.5); TX4-991-736 (Mac OS X Server); and TX6-849-684 (Mac OS X Server Version 10.5 Leopard). The effective date of Apple’s copyright registrations predates the commencement of infringement by Psystar.
Internationally, the requirement to register copyrights was eliminated by the Berne Convention of 1887, and although it took the US another century to fully implement it, since the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988, registration has no longer been required in the USA either. Patent now subsists as soon as the creation has been fixed (i.e. written or recorded on any physical media) and that would even include being written to the developer’s hard drive in his office at Apple.
Pystar isn’t merely grasping at straws here, they are turning the action into a total comedy. Those are mighty expensive laughs they’re going for tho …
Sorry, said “patent” above when I clearly meant copyright. Got patents on the brain today … and they still must be registered (and approved)!