MAI v. Peak

Citation: ''MAI Sys. Corp. v. Peak Computer, Inc., 991 F.2d 511 (9th Cir. 1993), cert. dism.,'' 510 U.S. 1033 (1994).

Factual Background
This case involved a claim of copyright infringement by MAI against Peak, a third party maintenance organization, which had been hired by several MAI customers to maintain their systems. In doing so, Peak loaded MAI’s operating system software and diagnostics software into the memory of the customer’s computer. MAI claimed that the software license signed by the customers specifically limited the rights of the customer by only allowing the customer, and not a third party to load the licensed software into the computer. Peak claimed that merely loading the software into the computer was not a copyright infringement.

Appellate Court's Decision
The court held that (i) copying occurs when a computer program is loaded into the random access memory (RAM) of a computer; and (ii) the third party maintenance organization violated the plaintiff’s copyright in its software by loading it into RAM and as part of its software maintenance services.

Discussion
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 legislatively overruled this decision, permitting third party maintenance organizations to load software duly licensed by a customer into the computer for maintenance purposes.