Bowers v. Baystate Technologies, Inc.
Bowers v. Baystate Technologies, 320 F.3d 1317 (Fed. Cir. 2003), was a U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit case involving Harold L. Bowers (doing business as HLB Technology) and Baystate Technologies over patent infringement, copyright infringement, and breach of contract. In the case, the court found that Baystate had breached their contract by reverse engineering Bower's program, something expressly prohibited by a shrink wrap license that Baystate entered into upon purchasing a copy of Bower's software. This case is notable for establishing that license agreements can preempt fair use rights as well as expand the rights of copyright holders beyond those codified in US federal law.
| Bowers v. Baystate Technologies | |
|---|---|
| Court | United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit |
| Full case name | Harold L. Bowers (doing business as HLB Technology) v. Baystate Technologies, Inc., |
| Decided | January 29, 2003 |
| Citation(s) | 320 F.3d 1317 |
| Holding | |
| Baystate performed a breach of contract by reverse engineering HLB Technology's software. The shrinkwrap license on HLB Technology's software preempts fair use rights given in copyright law. | |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Randall Ray Rader, Raymond Charles Clevenger, Timothy Belcher Dyk |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Randall Ray Rader |
| Dissent | Timothy Belcher Dyk |
| Laws applied | |
| 17 U.S.C. ยง 117 | |
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