Apple v. Formula

Citation: Apple Computer, Inc. v. Formula Int'l, Inc., 725 F.2d 521, 221 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 762 (9th Cir. 1984).

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's entry of a preliminary injunction. Relying on the Apple v. Franklin decision, the court held that operating system software is copyrightable, as long as "the idea is capable of various modes of expression." The court explicitly rejected the defendant's contention that to be copyrightable the expression must be communicated to the user when the program is run on a computer. The court stated that "never has the Copyright Act required that the expression be communicated to a particular audience."