Paperback Software
| Company type | Limited |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software engineering |
| Founder | Adam Osborne |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Headquarters | United States |
Paperback Software International Ltd. was a software company founded in 1983 by Adam Osborne to manufacture discount software such as word processor Paperback Writer and related spell checker Paperback Speller, spreadsheet VP-Planner,[1][2] database VP-Info, and the VP-Expert artificial intelligence software. VP-Expert was developed by Brian Sawyer[3] The company was headquartered in Berkeley, California.[4]
History
[edit | edit source]The company was found by a United States court to have infringed on copyright for reproducing the appearance and menu system of Lotus 1-2-3 in its competing spreadsheet program,[5][6] even though they did use different source code.[7][8][9][10] The loss of this lawsuit was the main cause for the foundering of the company and paved the way for future copyright law on computer software.[citation needed]
Overview
[edit | edit source]Not only was VP Planner cheaper, it was regarded by some as better.[11] Adam Osborne's US Paperback Software business folded following lengthy litigation with Lotus Software.[12] The litigation began in 1987, when Lotus initially won a copyright claim in 1990 against Paperback Software.[13] Lotus sued Borland over the latter's Quattro Pro spreadsheet[14][15] but, after six years of litigation, lost the lawsuit. The court ruled that it is not copyright infringement to use the Lotus interface as a subset, but, by then, Paperback Software had folded, and Lotus 1-2-3 had faced intense competition from Microsoft Excel.
Legacy
[edit | edit source]VP-Info remains in use and continues to be available for download from public software archives, and through the Wayback Machine. VP-Info was revised and updated and re-published by SubRosa Corporation as the Shark database management application.[16][circular reference] VP-Expert was the top-selling expert systems development tool, with over 120,000 units sold and site licenses at DuPont, Kodak, and the Wharton School of Business.
References
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).[permanent dead link]
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Russo, J. and J. Nafziger. "Software 'Look and Feel' Protection in the 1990s"
- ^ Lotus Dev. Corp. v. Paperback Software Int'l, 740 F. Supp. 37 (D. Mass. 1990)
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). [failed verification]
- ^ VP-Info