November 15, 2002

Scholarly Groups Seek Clarification on Software Licenses

By ANDREA L. FOSTER

Law professors and academic-library groups are asking a federal appeals court here to modify a new ruling to make it clear that established copyright provisions, like fair use, sometimes trump software-licensing agreements that would otherwise narrow consumers' rights.

The case in question, Harold L. Bowers v. Baystate Technologies Inc., involves the shrink-wrap license on a piece of software Mr. Bowers created to improve computer-aided-design software.

Mr. Bowers, of Memphis,