Well, as you may previously read in my posts titled Apple do not annoy me and Dead Clownfish, there is a software which emulates some menu features of the future Apple’s iPhone. Today, I decided to release it into public. I am not the author. I don’t know the author of this software personally. Those are two programs. RE’s Unlocker (for the slide to unlock the screen) and RE’s Launcher (for the menu). You can download it from my website - res_ppc-custom.icons.zip (1,4 MB file). Here are some tech-realted information. This software is not written for Mac OSX. We all know that iPhone is supposed to run with Mac OSX build in. As you can see, it is designed for different platform/device - Pocket PC, and it is written in a different programming language - Pocket Programming Language. You may find those tools to edit/compile a source code at www.arianesoft.ca website.
Let me present a very short memo why I decided to do that. First at all, I would like to inform all of you that I am an IP lawyer interested in copyright/authors rights and I really appreciate the fact that such regulations are used to reward creative people for their efforts and actions which are designed to improve our society. I would like to draw you attention to couple of U.S. copyright cases where judges clearly stated what are basic principles of copyright law. As you may read in the case Mazer v. Stein, 347 U.S. 201 (1954), all cases in PDF files:
“The copyright law, like the patent statutes, makes reward to the owner a secondary consideration.” United States v. Paramount Pictures, 334 U.S. 131, 158, . However, it is “intended definitely to grant valuable, enforceable rights to authors, publishers, etc., without burdensome requirements; ‘to afford greater encouragement to the production of literary [or artistic] works of lasting benefit to the world.’” Washingtonian Co. v. Pearson, 306 U.S. 30, 36.
I know that some of you may think that I am looking for fame and money. But I did not take any cash from the author and too much fuss in this issue will not help me as a lawyer, that’s for sure. It is definitely not a good way to look for clients. Some people and firms/entities may be detered from me by actions I conducted. Anyway, as I said I care more about those basic legal principles that constitute this field of law. Besides, being a badass, I do not like when someone uses legal regulation to scare another people.
Since Apple’s lawyers based its claims regarding to the U.S. copyright law I will write about all legal issues in the context of the U.S. legal system. Can Apple claim copyright to iPhone’s menu hierarchy? I do not think so. Just read what Judge Stahl from the 1st. Circuit Court said in the case Lotus Development Corp. v. Borland International, Inc., 49 F.3d 807 (1st Cir. 1995), PDF file. The court ruled that menu command hierarchy was uncopyrightable. Enough to say, as a method of operation it was foreclosed from copyright protection.
Can Apple claim copyright to iPhone’s icons? I could argue that under the U.S. copyright law icons are not copyrightable subject matter. RE’s software consist icons that are not the same that Apple is using in its future product. As an example and to avoid allegedly copyright claims I asked my friend Adam Zawiasinski who is a webdesigner (I want to give him a big credit so please go and see www.zawiasinski.pl website) to prepare simple comparision and to make icons in the same style. You may see all of them in the topic of this post. Here is also a bigger file (JPG, 175 KB), with better details. For your comparison, here is RE’s software with Apple’s icons - res_ppc-apple.icons.zip (1,4 MB file). If Apple would like to make any “legal troubles” I recommend you to change those icons, or in my case, I will probably put it somewhere else. I mean P2P networks or different hosting websites. Once released it can’t be stoped right?
Can Apple claim copyright to iPhone’s wallpaper? Well, let me put it this way. Some U.S. courts do not consider “real-life” photos as a subject for copyright protection. See for instance a judgement in the case Bill Diodato Photography, LLC v. Kate Spade, LLC, 388 F. Supp. 2d 382, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21360 (S.D.N.Y. 2005), PDF file, where Judge Denny Chin ruled that almost every part of a photograph, that was a subject of this dispute, lacked an ability to earn a copyright protection. The iPhone’s wallpaper is changed to other wallpaper but also with a Clownfish (to be exact - with two Clownfishes). The picture that has been taken for this purpose is in the public domain.
As regarding to the software I publish. Apple can not claim copyright infringement on any reason. Apple did not release iPhone device and its software so far and RE’s programer had no access to it. If Apple’s lawyers want to claim that RE’s software is somehow a copy I recommend them to run the “Altai test” as established in the case Computer Assocs. Int’l v. Altai, Inc., 982 F.2d 693, 1992 U.S. App. LEXIS 33369, (2d Cir. 1992), PDF file. Actually everyone could perform such test for its own. You got the judgement’s text. Additionaly, I provide you with the source code but hmm… there is no Apple’s code. How could it be copied then?
At the end of this post I would like to write that I respect what Apple did for the computers’ market, I like their design approach. I know that they very ofthen care about their consumers. I’m pretty sure that this situation will not make Apple’s clients confused about the new product - iPhone. Actually, I am going to buy one for me.