Cyber Times International Journal of Technology & Management

The technological development in computer software forced the judiciary to lay down new techniques and doctrine to determine scope of copyright violation in computer software. While attempting to resolve the problem of copyright violation in computer software to nonliterary work, the court in Whelan Associates Inc. v. Jaslow Dental Laboratory Inc.[ ] separated ‘idea’ from ‘expression’ by applying the principle laid down in Baker v. Selden.[ ] The judgment of the Whelan is widely criticized on various grounds. The problem of dichotomy in ‘idea’ and ‘expression’ in computer software up to some extent is solved by the court in Altai’s case by applying abstract-filtration-comparison test. The author has critically analyzed the judgment in Whelan case with the help of established principles in the arena of copyright law and criticism by other authors, judges and jurists.