Court Finds World Programming Ltd. Infringed on SAS Copyrights; Refers Case to European Court of Justice

By Sas, PRNE
Thursday, July 22, 2010

WPL Claim of "High Court Victory" is False

LONDON, July 23, 2010 - Today the High Court of Justice handed down a ruling that World
Programming Ltd. (WPL) infringed software developer SAS Institute Inc.'s
copyright in its SAS(R) documentation. The court also found that WPL acted
outside the scope of its license agreement for SAS Learning Edition
(support.sas.com/learn/le/index.html) software by using that product
to develop WPL's World Programming System (WPS) software. The court referred
questions to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for clarification on whether
such use was permitted.

In the case, SAS alleged that WPL violated several SAS copyrights by
copying SAS manuals and source code. The court found that the manual for
WPL's WPS software infringed the copyright in the SAS manuals. In order to
resolve the question of whether the WPS software itself infringed SAS
copyrights, the court has referred several questions of copyright law to the
ECJ.

SAS General Counsel John Boswell said, "WPL issued a press release
contending that they 'secured a major legal victory' in this case. This
announcement was surprising in that the decisions the court handed down were
related to the violation of SAS' copyright on its manuals. Other decisions
have not been made. They raise uncertain questions of law and have therefore
been referred to the ECJ. We feel compelled to address the inaccuracies in
the news release issued by WPL."

Boswell added, "SAS invests hundreds of millions of dollars in research
and development every year. Protecting the intellectual property created by
the dedicated and talented employees of SAS is of paramount importance. We
will vigorously pursue the remaining issues in this case and look forward to
getting clarification from the ECJ."

About SAS

SAS is the leader in business analytics (
www.sas.com/businessanalytics/) software and services, and the largest
independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative
solutions delivered within an integrated framework, SAS helps customers at
more than 45,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better
decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world
THE POWER TO KNOW(R). SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service
names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the
USA and other countries. (R) indicates USA registration. Other brand and
product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright (c)
2010 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.

    Editorial Contacts:

    Desiree Adkins, SAS
    desiree.adkins@sas.com
    +1-919-531-0736
    Visit the SAS Press Center: www.sas.com/presscenter

    Andy West, Hotwire
    Andy.West@hotwirepr.com
    +44-7974-161162

Editorial Contacts: Desiree Adkins, SAS, desiree.adkins at sas.com, +1-919-531-0736; Andy West, Hotwire, Andy.West at hotwirepr.com, +44-7974-161162

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