Sega Enterprises Ltd. v. Accolade, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
977 F.2d 1510 (9th Cir. 1992)
Relevant factsFree
To make its own games compatible with the Sega Genesis, Accolade (defendant) disassembled Sega's (plaintiff) copyrighted console code, necessarily copying it in the process, and used the resulting knowledge to develop and sell competing Genesis-compatible games; Sega sued for copyright infringement, and the district court found Accolade liable.
IssueFree
Whether disassembly of a copyrighted computer program for the purpose of studying its unprotected aspects constitutes fair use, where there is good reason for the study.