ITPEC FE Morning October 2021 Question 80
ITPEC FE Morning October 2021 — Question 80 of 80
Under TRIPS, software is protected as a literary work under copyright law. This means the expression (the actual code) is protected, not the underlying ideas or algorithms.
Both source programs (human-readable code) and object programs (compiled/machine code) are protected, since both are concrete expressions of the software.
Why not others:
- (a) Algorithms are abstract ideas and programming languages are tools — neither is protected under TRIPS copyright.
- (b) System programs (e.g., an OS) are equally protected — the type or purpose of software does not affect copyright scope.
- (d) This reverses the principle — documents describing algorithms can be protected, but programs built using those algorithms are also independently protected as their own expression.
Key rule: TRIPS protects the expression of software (source and object code), not the ideas behind it (algorithms, languages).
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