Wall Data Inc. v. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department purchased 3,663 licenses to Wall Data’s computer software, but installed the software onto 6,007 computers. We are asked to determine whether the Sheriffs Department’s conduct constituted copyright infringement. The wrinkle in this otherwise smooth question is that, although the software was installed onto 6,007 computers, the computers were configured such that the total number of workstations able to access the installed software did not exceed the total number of licenses the Sheriffs Department purchased. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and hold that such copying constitutes copyright infringement despite the Sheriffs Department’s configuration. We therefore affirm the district court.

1. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff-Appellee Wall Data Incorporated develops, markets, and sells a line of copyrighted computer terminal emulation software products including RUMBA Office and RUMBA Mainframe. Both RUMBA products allow personal computers that use one operating system to access data stored on computers that use a different operating system. RUMBA Office is the more expensive and more powerful computer program.

Between…