Design Data Corp. v. Unigate Enterprise, Inc.

Re: Dkt. Nos. 75, 104

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

The central issue on this motion for summary judgment is whether defendants can be liable for copyright infringement when there is no evidence that defendants copied or used plaintiffs copyrighted software other than having downloaded (but not installed) a copy of the software onto an external hard drive. To insure that plaintiff had ample opportunity to prove its case, I delayed the hearing on this motion for several months, allowed extensive discovery, and considered supplemental briefing. Because I find that the evidence demonstrates only de minimis copying, defendants’ motion for summary judgment must be GRANTED.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Design Data Corporation created and owns copyrighted structural steel detailing software called SDS/2. Declaration of Barry Butler (Docket No. 85-11) ¶ 2. SDS/2 is a computer aided design (CAD) software that can produce two and three dimensional drawings and models -of structural steel components. These drawings and models support the design, detailing, fabrication, and erection of structural steel in buildings and other structures. Id. ¶ 4. SDS/2 drawings and models can only be…