Software Rights

Winner of the 2020 Computer History Museum Prize

"Matching the economy and elegance of a sublime early (patentworthy) computer program, Con Díaz's brilliant and accessible study of software intellectual property is unrivaled in IT legal history."—Jeffrey R. Yost, author of Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry

“Who says antitrust doesn’t matter? In this spirited, authoritative, and well-crafted history, Con Díaz shows how lawmakers, lawyers, programmers, and entrepreneurs invented the legal principles that protect today’s digital giants.”—Richard R. John, author of Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications

“Con Díaz crucially reminds us that law is not external to the business and technological development of U.S. computing. He weaves patents, copyrights, and trade secrets into a lively history that speaks directly to contemporary intellectual property debates.”—Kara W. Swanson, Northeastern University

“A brilliant, original history of the struggle to achieve copyright and patent protection for computer software, lucidly written, deeply knowledgeable, and compellingly attentive to the interplay of law, business, and innovation.”—Daniel J. Kevles, Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University

"A highly readable account of how patent law and software shaped one another in the twentieth century. By bringing together technology, industry, and law, this book sets a new agenda for computer history."—Eden Medina, Massachusetts Institute of Technology