CONTENTS I INTRODUCTION; Research Objective; Methodology; Hypothesis; Research Questions; Chapterization; II A TECHNICAL PROLOGUE TO THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION OF SOFTWARE; 2.1. Tracing the History of Software; 2.2. Hazarding a Faux Passe - Comprehending Software; 2.3. Building Software - A Brief Overview; 2.4. 1mportant Characteristics of Computer Programs; 2.4.1. Computer programs are not only texts, they also behave; 2.4.2. Text and behaviour are largely independent; 2.4.3. Programs are machine whose medium of construction is text; 2.4.4. Many Programs Rei on Conceptual Metaphors to Organize Behaviour; 2.4.5 Programs are Industrial Compilations of Applied Know-How; 2.4.6 Innovation in Programs is Largely Incremental and Cumulative in Character; III COPYRIGHT PROTECTION OF SOFTWARE; 3.1 A Historical Enquiry; 3.1.1 The 1976 Revision of the Copyright Law; 3.1.2 CONTU's Mandate From Congress; 3.1.3 CONTU on Copyrightability of Programs; 3.1.4 Following the CONTU Path; 3. 2 International Copyright Protection; 3.2.1. Berne Convention am:} the Universal Copyright Convention; 3.2.2 TRIPS; 3.2.3 WIPO Copyright Treaty, 1996; 3.2. 4 European Community Directive on the Legal Protection of Computer Programs, 1991; 3.2. 5 US Copyright Law Judicial Precedents; 3.3. Doctrinal Difficulties of Fitting Computer Programs in Copyright Jurisprudence 3.3.1. The Failure of Machine-Readable Programs to Disclose the Ideas they Contain; 3.3.2. The "Utilitarian" Character of Machine-Readable Programs as a Copyright Problem; Perceived Inadequacies of the Copyright Regime; 3.4.1 Cycles of Over Protection and Under Protection of Program Behaviour; 3.4.2 Inadequate Protection of interfaces; 3.4.3 Decompilation as Fair Use; 3.4.4 Author's Rights; IV PATENT PROTECTION OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE International Patent Protection; 4.1.1 The Paris Convention; 4.1.2 TRIPS; .1.3 Europe; Judicial Precedents; 4.1 .4 United States of America; Judicial Precedents; 4.2. Perceived Limitations of Patent Protection; 4.2.1 Subject Matter Problems; 4.2.2 Prior Art Problems; 4.2.3 Disclosure Problems; V TRADE SECRET PROTECTION 5.1.Definition and Elements; 5.1.1 The 'Novelty' Requirement; 5.1.2.The ' Value' Requirement; The ' Secrecy' Requirement; 5.2. Scope; 5.2.1. Discovery through Proper Means; 5.2.2. Duty not To Disclose Created by Confidential Relationships; 5.3. Combining trade secret and Copyright Law; 5.4. Inadequacies of Trade Secret Protection; VI CONCLUSION; The Model Software Protection Act; BIBLIOGRAPHY;