THE defence yesterday opened its case with a broadside rubbishing the claim by Paymaster that it owned the rights to the multiple-bill payment software that is at the centre of the company’s billion-dollar lawsuit before the Supreme Court.

In his opening statement, John Vassell, QC, said that the Copyright Act of Jamaica only provides protection for a working computer program and not the ideas or specifications given for the development of a programme.

Vassell, while quoting from the act, noted that only the developer of the working program would own the copyright of the program unless there is a written agreement to the contrary.

Second defendant Paul Lowe, a program developer, is claiming ownership of the right to the multiple-bill payment software, for which first defendant GraceKennedy paid him US$20,000 in licence fees to use in the operation of Bill Express, which was launched by conglomerate in 2007.

But Paymaster head Audrey Marks is claiming ownership rights to the software, which she said in her $1.7-billion lawsuit was the product of her idea and specification given to Lowe.

Software development expert Dr Patrick Dallas testified in court yesterday that both Paymaster and Lowe had shared ownership of the software.

According to Dallas, Lowe would have owned the rights to the software base and Paymaster would have ownership rights to the program it instructed Lowe to develop.

However, his evidence was disputed by the defendants.

Bryan Goldson – a former managing director at GraceKennedy Remittance Service – refuted a suggestion by attorney Dr Lloyd Barnett that Marks had shown him her business plan when she approached the conglomerate for assistance in launching Paymaster.

Goldson also denied suggestions that Paymaster’s name was on the software obtained from Lowe.

He said, though, that the logos of Paymaster and Bill Express were strikingly similar in colour and that the use of the dollar sign as letters in the name of the companies, stood out to him.

Marks, who launched Paymaster in 1997, is suing both GraceKennedy and Lowe for copyright infringement of her business plan and computer programme.

Marks is claiming that this infringement has caused her millions of dollars in losses.