Global limits on ''look and feel'': Defining the scope of software copyright protection by international agreement

In recent years, the international community has sought to promote the smooth functioning of global trade by further standardizing the ways that intellectual property rights are protected throughout the world. As part of this effort, a consensus developed to protect computer software under the copyright regime, and under various multinational agreements numerous countries have committed to conforming their domestic copyright laws to provide such protection. This effort has been successful to the extent that it ended prior debate over where computer software fell within the intellectual property framework. As software copyright disputes increasingly focus on the more difficult questions of which aspects of software can be protected and which cannot, however, the international framework provides little guidance. Only by answering some of those difficult questions-such as by agreeing upon the doctrines to be used to limit copyright protection-can the international community truly achieve the uniform software copyright regime it seeks.