Delia walked out of the office of the regular meeting and walked towards the separate reception room for the partners, through the bright glass, Kane saw Delia walking towards the reception room, stood up first, and said to Tommy and Sophia, who were sitting next to them:

"Ms. Case is here."

The two also stood up humbly, waiting for the other to walk in, Sophia couldn't hide the excitement on her face, and even grabbed Tommy's little finger with her hand to express her feelings about to meet her idol, and Tommy Hawke, the bastard, finally had a time to believe in her words.

Although there are many practicing female lawyers in the United States, most of them work in firms established after World War II, and those established white-shoe firms may absorb some female lawyers, but often those female lawyers have few opportunities for advancement in the process.

It's not that it's sexist or unequal, on the contrary, the legal profession is very equal in the United States, and it's because of equality that it's harder for women lawyers to get ahead.

What can a male lawyer do with his clients, politicians, a day of drinking, or even a high-class club* prostitute to get closer to each other? Even if she doesn't mind, the other person will.

Therefore, in addition to cooperating with the work, whether it is a client, a politician, or a boss, they are basically in a state of complete separation from female lawyers, and they can't get into those circles full of machismo, and they can't get the real source of influential cases, but they will only continue to widen the distance from those male lawyers, and finally have no choice but to rely on their resume in a white shoe firm, jump to work in an ordinary law firm with a high salary, and finally have nothing to do with the word elite forever.

After all, the last time a female partner was born in the top 20 law firms in the United States, it was back in 1959, when a woman named Elizabeth MiG did it at Skadden Law Firm, which ranked second in the United States that year.

The second, Delia Case, who was walking towards the reception room at this time, with neat silver hair and a black women's suit, joined Davis Polk Law Firm in 1971 and became the second female partner of the White Shoes Elite Law Firm in 11 years.

These two women are the idols of all law school girls in the United States, and Sophia is certainly no exception, not all girls have the opportunity to meet these two, and girls like Sophia, who is studying at Stanford Law School, are not even eligible to intern at a firm like Davis Polk without a recommendation from an important client.

For law students who didn't come from Harvard Law School or Yale Law School or the University of Chicago Law School, there's a 95 percent chance that you'll not have a career with such a white-shoe firm unless you become their client.

"Tommy? Sophia? Delia walked in and generously said the names of the two: "Good morning, I'm sorry I'm late, today's regular meeting is a bit long." ”

Tommy reached out, "Nice to meet you, Ms. Case. ”

"Ms. Case, when we're done talking, can I take a picture with you?" I even bought a Polaroid camera to meet you. Sophia waited for Tommy to finish shaking hands with the other party, and she stepped forward with reverence on her face and stretched out her hand to Delia and said.

Delia smiled and nodded: "Of course no problem, seeing you is like seeing yourself twenty years ago, I also said the same thing when I first met Ms. Elizabeth MiG." ”

When she let go of Sophia's hand, Delia sat down in her place, her hands trembling on the table, and she said very quickly:

"Okay, it's often a few minutes late, so we'd better make up for it, and that's the end of the greetings, let's get down to business, Kane, get us some coffee, Actor, Inc., right?" The software company founded by Mr. Tommy Hawke, I learned about the information I have so far, according to the United States Law of the Sea system with reference to the previous same or similar cases of punishment, what Actor did is undoubtedly in violation of copyright law, you copied the interface and functions of Lotus Company, and even the other party has a special edition in your hand, and you thoughtfully inserted the code written by the boss of the other company, paid tribute to the other party, and left tangible evidence for the other party by the way, right? ”

Tommy nodded, not retorting, "But if we're just plagiarizing, I don't think you'll be interested in it, Ms. Case." ”

"Of course, when the lady from Actor called Holly Keener contacted me, she mentioned some public opinion points, such as women's employment, equal rights, and so on, and said that your income seems to be going to charity and not in your own pocket, and that's the main reason why I'm interested in listening." Delia's eyes stared at Tommy Hawke, who sat down again, and his face was calm, said:

"I would like to hear what kind of contribution Actor has made to women's employment, equal rights and other activities, so that they can stand on a moral level, and if the other party does not want their image to be damaged because of this, it is likely that they can complete the settlement before the trial."

Tommy clenched his hand into a fist and put it to his lips and bit it gently, and after about five or six seconds, he put down his hand and said to Delia: "I thought about your thoughts according to what you said just now, Ms. Case, you think that Actor Company infringes, so you want to understand the influence of Actor Company in those public welfare activities, and make sure that the income earned by Actor Company does not fall into my pocket, but continues to support public welfare causes, so that even if the court is held, When it is learned that everything the Actor does is only for the public good, and is not used for pure profit, it can also be used to convince the jurors to finally get the most favorable verdict, or to reach a settlement with the other party who is worried about the damage to their reputation. ”

"Based on what we know so far, that's the best outcome." Delia nodded and said.

Tommy looked at Delia and asked a question: "I guess you're referring to the previous case, which is the 1981 case of Stern Games against Almighty Video Game Infringement?" ”

"Yes, this case became a precedent for a U.S. court to rule that a computer program infringes copyright, and that the copyright in a computer program includes images, sounds, and code." Delia flipped through the notebook in her hand and said affirmatively.

Tommy pursed his lips: "Very good, first point, I am very sure that OSS is not infringing in terms of sound and code, there is only one question that remains unanswered, that is, should the operation interface of a computer program be counted as an audio-visual work screen?" The case that happened in 1981 was two games, their sound, picture, and code were almost identical, and it was very normal to be convicted of infringement, but the computer program was different, it was not like a game as an audio-visual work, providing a changeable picture, it only had an operation interface, it was not even a picture, there was no drawing, just the layout of menus and commands, which is not currently defined, I think if you let your colleagues who are proficient in copyright law and literary work law discuss it, you will find this very interesting, interface, Whether it's a practice or a copyrighted patent. ”

"The second point, if the answer to the first point is operating habits, then the second question is, is software reverse engineering illegal? In other words, I made a similar software based on Lotus's software, but the specific code to implement the restoration is completely different from it, is this behavior illegal? The computer software industry is also not clearly defined, and friendly reminder that reverse engineering in other industries is not illegal, referring to the 1972 yacht wars. ”

"The third point, compatibility issues, OSS can open the files generated by the Lotus software, but please note that it is only in read-only form, my software will prompt the customer with a clear logo, WKE files are only opened in read-only form, this function is just a favor for the customer, so as not to let him run the two software in a hurry, so it is compatible with read-only opening the software, any OSS modification of the Lotus software file is the customer's own behavior, and has nothing to do with the company, we have set a read-only limit, It's just that the restriction may be easier to break, and if the other party insists on this infringement, we can delete the function that was originally intended to provide customer productivity in the future. ”

Delia listened to Tommy say his thoughts, thought for more than ten seconds, and finally shook her head: "Tommy, you obviously have done a lot of relevant cases with Sophia, according to you, your code and voice are not plagiarized from Lotus, just an operation interface, you need to let the court give an answer, whether this should be counted as a user-friendly operation habit, or a copyrighted software patent, this is very important, you want to make it a precedent in the software industry, right?" ”

Tommy nodded, "Yes, that's crucial. ”

"I'll tell you the brutal truth, you sent a letter of defense, that is, there is no objection, and you accept the case in the Massachusetts court, and the other party's firm is Hale & Dole, the old white shoe firm that is not much different from us in the industry, and most importantly, the headquarters of that firm is in Boston, and you want the court to make a biased judgment in this kind of case, and the main problem is to get the jury, believe me, none of those judges, clerks, jurors are really well versed in copyright law, Being a judge in the U.S. doesn't need to be proficient in all laws, but you do need to balance them, you know? You want a 12-member jury in a Massachusetts court to support you, at least four key jurors in advance, that is, four people who can influence the final vote of the other jurors, I guess Lotus has done all this at this point, even if you are not reconciled and appeal to the circuit court, it is still this kind of end, it is so cruel, you think you have a chance to be noticeable, but I tell you, money will solve everything, you and the actor will fail, and continue to be obscure. Delia took a sip of the coffee Kane had brought to her, and continued:

"Unless you tell me now that you have a lot of money, you can come up with 50 million or 100 million for me to mobilize all my forces to help you do everything in Massachusetts, from investigation and evidence collection to lobbying jurors, at all costs, and even help you find a way to move the court to California, otherwise no one cares whether your operation interface is a habit or a patent argument point, and you think those precedents are precedent just because it's worth it? The answer is, no, in all business law in the United States, only when the two sides are evenly matched and the camp is constantly expanding, will there be a chance to become a precedent with influence. ”

Seeing that Tommy didn't speak, Delia shrugged and put down her coffee:

"So, I suggest you talk to me about those public welfare activities, increase the settlement or win the sympathy points of the jury, and finally strive for no compensation, only to stop the infringement and hand over the relevant data."

"In other words, we will fall completely at the first blow of the opponent, right? There is no way to fight back. Tommy lowered his head and rubbed his hands together, as if talking to himself, as if asking a question.

Delia replied, "That's right, that's why I gave a suggestion to use public welfare activities to gain sympathy. ”

"I don't want to fall down on the first blow, and I don't want to settle with the other party, if I'm not mistaken, Ms. Case, there is an amicus curiae system in the United States, right, amicus curiae can voluntarily provide relevant information or legal opinions to the court to assist in the litigation, so that the judge and the jury know what the issues are." Tommy looked up at Delia and said.

Delia frowned slightly: "You mean, you found a few Stanford Law School classmates to help you stand in court, listen to me, Tommy, in Massachusetts, you use this method to try to influence the verdict, it will only anger the court and the jury, I just said, that's their territory, you have to show strong enough influence." ”

"No, one hundred and seventy-six public interest organizations registered as non-profit legal advocacy organizations with a total number of more than 30,000 members are willing to submit documents to the court on this lawsuit as amicus curiae, giving a comprehensive elaboration of 176 arguments on the infringement in this case, and intervening in the judgment of the case, because they are non-profit organizations and legal advocacy organizations at the same time, the documents of these organizations will be more valued by the court, in other words, if the court makes a ruling contrary to all amicus curiae, These nonprofit legal advocacy organizations can directly challenge the higher courts for unclear and unmotivated decisions made by judges and jurors. Tommy Hawk looked at Delia:

"Do you think 176 non-profit organizations, with the special attention of more than 30,000 people, are enough to block the blow of the state courts and circuit courts? If not enough, there are more than a hundred prostitutes ready to fly in outside the Massachusetts courtroom for a press conference, followed by the 20,000 surviving members of the SSD fraternity and Florida's reserves. ”

"One hundred and seventy-six? Non-profit legal advocacy organizations? A hint of surprise flashed across Delia's face, and she couldn't help but flip through the folder and look at the information of the Actor company again: "And you have prepared a detailed explanation document?" ”

An ordinary small company, founded by Stanford students, is passionate about public welfare, and that's it.

It is not surprising that there are amicus curiae in a lawsuit, and it is not surprising that a company with a lot of money directly seeks hundreds of amicus curiae to help them stand on the platform, but at this time, the 176 amicus curiae mentioned by Tommy Hawke are non-profit legal advocacy organizations, in other words, 176 organizations that are registered for the purpose of calling for various legislation or advocating legal reform.

Most importantly, these organizations must have their own lawyers, that is, the organization must have a fixed donation to hire the lawyer to be in charge of the organization's legal firm, and the document submitted to the court must be drafted by a professional lawyer hired by the organization.

It is by no means the kind of grass platform team established by three or two initiators.

"Of the 176 women's rights organizations at the university, if the Stanford Women's Equality Advancement is excluded on the grounds that they are closely related to litigants, that's 175." Tommy stared at Delia calmly, "Do you think that's enough to stop ......?"

Delia interrupted Tommy's words affirmatively: "It's enough, it can catch the other party off guard, you show these hole cards, Lotus can only try to delay for a long time, and spend a lot of time trying to counteract the influence of these amicus curiae on the court, but I am curious about another question, from this incident, I realized that you can cobble together such a force to help your small company besiege Lotus, a nouveau riche in the software industry, not like a person who can make such a mistake as infringement." ”

"That's another question I'm going to talk about, remember the special edition in the other person's hand? During this period of time when the other party was caught off guard and tried to reconcile or delay, Actor wants to countersue Lotus for plagiarism, and they must keep the normal software update, regardless of whether the new features they launch are plagiarism or not, believe me, there must be similar features to OSS in the update plan, and I am sure that the programmers of Lotus must have seen my version of the software, as long as they have seen it, it is an opportunity to splash dirty water, of course, this requires Lawyer Case to show your ability, At the evidence stage, try to get the testimony of the programmer from Lotus or the other party is willing to be a witness. Tommy said to Delia:

"My company is not profitable, I personally do not make profits, I naturally will not make mistakes, even if the infringement is lost, you can also use non-profit to minimize the trouble, nothing more than the company closes its doors and hands over the data, my own good performance at the moral level can make me never go to jail, but I am not an ordinary bug, I am a firefly, I am not profitable, infringement can make the jury forgive me at the moral level, but I want to shine a light on the Lotus company that came up, it is a commercial company, commercial company plagiarism, Or even if it is just suspected plagiarism, it is fatal when there are enemies and opponents everywhere. ”

Delia worked hard to digest for more than ten seconds before slowing down her speech, and her eyes changed from indifference before to more appreciative colors, but she still said her opinion truthfully:

"If the other party perceives your intention and announces the cancellation of the update, your long-prepared all-out blow is equivalent to a short, and you can't get anything from the counterclaim, you might as well wait for the other party to officially update the listing before counterclaiming, and you can claim compensation."

Tommy made a gesture of spreading his hands at her: "No, I don't want to take anything, don't compensate, Actor is a small company focused on public welfare, not for claims, not for settlement fees, Lotus wants to solve our counterclaim, it's very simple, disclose its development progress and code, to prove innocence, Actor public OSS software, it has no impact on me, but if Lotus makes it public, it means that its clothes are taken off, and the company's main business is seen by everyone, And if it refuses to make it public, at this time, the large software companies that covet the Lotus market and are bent on finding opportunities to fall into the ground, as long as they are not idiots, will naturally join as a second wave of amicus curiae, based on the flaws exposed by Lotus, give them a more fierce attack, and will not stop without using the hands of Actors. ”

"You've done so much and you really haven't thought about helping yourself earn benefits? Even at this point, you and the Actor Company are just a tool for the big companies, and it's free. Delia had some excitement in her voice, and she subconsciously licked her lips.

Tommy laughed: "No, at that time, those big companies will use the war between the little bug of the actor and the elephant of Lotus to solve the second problem that may be included in the precedent of the computer software industry, whether the software standards should be unified or separated, if the Lotus company refuses to make it public, it means that it chooses to separate, and the big companies naturally know better than me how to knife Lotus, eating meat does not need to be taught by others, eating is the instinct of living beings." ”

"In 1979, IBM almost became the same elephant as Lotus, and in the end it would rather lose some of its interests than become an elephant besieged by a herd, it sued Oracle and quickly withdrew the lawsuit, not that it wanted to reconcile with Oracle, but that it was waiting for the legal terms to improve, help it paint a good protective color, and then go out to solve the oracle safely, try to avoid the situation of Lotus today, obviously they have done nothing wrong, but these companies in the industry are just taking the opportunity to eat it." Sophia suddenly remembered that Tommy had told her about the 1979 case that had just happened and was quickly eliminated, and at this time she looked at Tommy, who was expressionless beside her, and said:

"From the day Actor was founded, it was all about ...... Help the companies that build the ecosystem in your mouth find prey and replace it. ”

"What I want is that whether software standards are unified or fragmented in the future, it has nothing to do with Lotus, it is excluded and replaced by a weaker and harmless Actor company, which can use this precedent to replace it and participate in the development of computer software standards, especially office software." Tommy ignored Sophia's words, and instead looked at Delia:

"At that point, I can say to everyone who supports the Actor that good has triumphed over evil, and we have triumphed over capital."

Delia let out a heavy breath, "Actor is a small company in the eye of the storm, are you sure that Lotus can still exist after it is resolved?" ”

"Sure, it's only weak when I need it, I've asked members of SSD fraternity headquarters to help contact SSD alumnus Henry Perrault, his EDS has been working as a contractor to provide office systems support to the U.S. government, although he doesn't develop it in-house, but he's interested in intervening software standards, and if he's not interested, I have a friend, Actor was already through the toughest time for me at that time, and I can get him to invest 20 million in Actor."

"Very well, stop enjoying the bright future, I care about one thing now, how much are you going to pay me? Tommy. Delia interrupted Tommy and laughed, "I'm interested in this case, but I don't have the money, so don't think I'll help you." ”

Tommy also laughed: "How happy we are to talk about justice and public welfare, but in the end it is inevitable to objectify, Ms. Case, your greedy face makes me a little sad." ”

"My hourly consulting fee is 260 yuan, calculated according to the time of the previous case process, in the evidence collection and disclosure stage, the total working time is about 120 hours, and the cost is about 32,000 yuan, which does not include the cost of hiring other lawyers as a lawyer to form a team and hiring a professional investigation agency to collect evidence, and in the court session, about my total personal work time is about 175 hours, the cost is 46,000 yuan, and your counterclaim or appeal will take about 120 hours, 32,000 yuan, In order to help the employer win the chance, or to set up obstacles for the other party, you may need to apply to the court to initiate various motions, which is an indefinite expense, roughly calculated, just want me to accompany you through the whole case from beginning to end, it will take about 200,000, and the cost of lawyers and evidence collection for other teams will probably need at least 200,000, that is, a total of 400,000, this is just an offer in the best case, if the other party delays, stretches out all kinds of time, it will rise rapidly. Delia smiled at Tommy and said:

"Of course, you don't need to pay the full amount, but if you want to sign a contract with our law firm, you have to pay at least 100,000 yuan in upfront fees."

"If you don't mind giving me a detailed quote and don't worry about being charged by me publicly, I think it's a reasonable price, you know I'm a philanthropic person, and it's unlikely that I'll come up with that much money myself, so ......" Tommy rubbed his hands: "I'm going to have to get someone else to take out the money, like selling the software to supporters in Florida, like selling it to those 176 organizations?" or some other payment method, but rest assured, I will never lose money owed to a lawyer. ”

"The company was founded with funds from Stanford University's start-up support, and the cost of filing a lawsuit with Lotus relied on the funds raised by peddling the software of the infringing Lotus company, and if you lose the lawsuit, you don't need to bear the guilt personally, and you win but reap all the fame and fortune." Delia looked at the young man in front of her who was dressed in cold clothes, as if she didn't know how to evaluate him, and finally could only sigh:

"You shouldn't bully those poor programmers, you should study political science and be a politician."

"If I'm a politician, you have to be careful, Ms. Case, politicians don't pay their bills easily." Tommy stood up, walked up to Delia, and held out his hand to her, "Good cooperation. ”

Delia ignored Tommy's teasing, got up and shook Tommy's hand: "Happy cooperation." ”

I'm too lazy to score chapters.,The second and third ones were released together.,About 7,000 words~.

(End of chapter)