Home > Apple v. Franklin

Franklin admitted that it had copied Apple's software but argued that it would have been impractical to independently write its own versions of the software and maintain compatibility, although it said it had written its own version of Apple's copy utility and was working on its own versions of other software. Franklin argued that because Apple's software existed only in machine-readable form, and not in printed form, and because some of the software did not contain copyright notices, it could be freely copied.

Initially, the court found in favor of Franklin. However, the ruling was overturned in 1983 and determined that computer software, including operating systems and system ROMs, could be protected by copyright, and Apple was able to force Franklin to withdraw its clones by 1988.