Published in Landslide® magazine, Volume 9, Number 6 , a publication of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL), ©2017 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This
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Language can serve various purposes. For
some, it is merely the way humans
communicate with each other.
For others, it is a set of rules
on how to arrange words
to permit communica-
tion. And for a select
few, the creation of new
languages is an expres-
sive activity through which
ideas about language, both
human and computer, are
conveyed.
While U.S. copyright pro-
tection “subsists ... in original
works of authorship xed in any tan-
gible medium of expression,”1 academics
have debated whether constructed lan-
guages in general—languages that are invented
or intentionally devised2—and computer languages
in particular t naturally into the copyright system.3
On the one hand, commentators recognize that “[t]he
Contentious
Construction
By JoshuaL. Simmons and
MeganL. McKeown
JoshuaL. Simmons is an intellectual property
partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He
represents clients in appellate and trial
courts around the country—particularly
in complex cases and those of rst
impression. He can be reached at joshua.
simmons@kirkland.com. MeganL.
McKeown is an intellectual property
associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Her
practice focuses on litigation and counseling.
She can be reached at megan.mckeown@
kirkland.com.
Does Language Fit
into Copyright’s Mold?
Cover Story
Illustration: iStockPhoto
