Paperback Software

Last updated
Paperback Software International
Company typeLimited
IndustrySoftware engineering
Founder Adam Osborne
FateDissolved
Headquarters
United States

Paperback Software International Ltd. was a software company founded in 1983 by Adam Osborne to manufacture discount software such as word processor Paperback Writer and related spell checker Paperback Speller, spreadsheet VP-Planner, [1] [2] database VP-Info, and the VP-Expert artificial intelligence software. VP-Planner was developed by James Stephenson [3] of Stephenson Software Ltd. [4] VP-Expert was developed by Brian Sawyer. [5] The company was headquartered in Berkeley, California. [6]

Contents

History

The company was found by a United States court to have infringed on copyright for reproducing the appearance and menu system of Lotus 1-2-3 in its competing spreadsheet program, [7] [8] even though they did use different source code. [9] [10] [11] [12] The loss of this lawsuit was the main cause for the foundering of the company and paved the way for future copyright law on computer software.[ citation needed ]

Overview

Not only was VP Planner cheaper, it was regarded by some as better. [13] Adam Osborne's US Paperback Software business folded following lengthy litigation with Lotus Software. [14] The litigation began in 1987, when Lotus initially won a copyright claim in 1990 against Paperback Software. [15] Lotus sued Borland over the latter's Quattro Pro spreadsheet [16] [17] but, after six years of litigation, lost the lawsuit. The court ruled that it is not copyright infringement to use the Lotus interface as a subset, but, by then, Paperback Software had folded, and Lotus 1-2-3 had faced intense competition from Microsoft Excel.

Legacy

VP-Info remains in use and continues to be available for download from public software archives, and through the Wayback Machine. VP-Info was revised and updated and re-published by SubRosa Corporation as the Shark database management application. [18] [ circular reference ] VP-Expert was the top-selling expert systems development tool, with over 120,000 units sold and site licenses at DuPont, Kodak, and the Wharton School of Business.

References

  1. ↑ "A DIVISIVE LOTUS 'CLONE' WAR" . The New York Times . February 5, 1987.
  2. ↑ "Three Officials Quit Paperback" . The New York Times . June 15, 1988.
  3. ↑ VP-Planner. 1986. ISBN   978-0-87142-029-9.
  4. ↑ Stephenson Software Ltd.
  5. ↑ VP-Expert. 1987. ISBN   978-0-87142-028-2.
  6. ↑ "Paperback Software International".
  7. ↑ "Lotus Wins Copyright Decision" . The New York Times . June 29, 1990.
  8. ↑ John Markoff (July 3, 1990). "Lotus Sues 2 On Copyright Violation" . The New York Times .
  9. ↑ bsobel (January 19, 2015). "Lotus Development Corp. v. Paperback Software International". H2O. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  10. ↑ Gerard J. Lewis (1991). "COMMENT: LOTUS DEVELOPMENT CORP. V. PAPERBACK SOFTWARE INTERNATIONAL: BROAD COPYRIGHT PROTECTION FOR USER INTERFACES IGNORES THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY'S TREND TOWARD STANDARDIZATION". LexisNexis. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  11. ↑ Brian Johnson (1991). "An Analysis of the Copyrightability of the "Look and Feel" of a Computer Program: Lotus v. Paperback Software" (PDF). The Ohio State University Law Review. hdl:1811/64566 . Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  12. ↑ Pamela Samuelson (1992). "Computer Programs, User Interfaces, and Section 102(b) of the Copyright Act of 1976: A Critique of Lotus v Paperback". Duke Law. Retrieved May 29, 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  13. ↑ "InfoWorld VP Planner Product Review". InfoWorld . 2 April 1990.
  14. ↑ Russo, J. and J. Nafziger. "Software 'Look and Feel' Protection in the 1990s"
  15. ↑ Lotus Dev. Corp. v. Paperback Software Int'l, 740 F. Supp. 37 (D. Mass. 1990)
  16. ↑ "Action in Lotus's Lawsuit". The New York Times . 24 March 1992.
  17. ↑ "LOTUS DEVELOPMENT CORP. v. BORLAND INTERNATIONAL INC., 49 F.3d 807 (1st Cir. 1995)". Cornell Law. Retrieved May 29, 2016.[ failed verification ]
  18. ↑ VP-Info
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