Apple cloner Psystar has won a major victory against Apple in its cloning case.

Psystar was in deep do do when Judge William Alsup of the US District Court in Northern California dismissed its  antitrust claims against Apple. However in an amended complaint, Psystar accused Apple of copyright misuse, as well as unfair competition violations based on its alleged copyright misuse.

Judge Alsup, noted that in a previous case, Practice Management Information v. American Medical Association, misusing copyright does not invalidate it.  However it would stop Apple enforcing it if it was misusing it. To make matters worse for Apple a defendant in a copyright infringement suit need not prove an antitrust violation to prevail on a copyright misuse defence, the Judge said.

Psystar now claims that Apple has attempted to extend the reach of its copyrights by tying them to computer hardware not otherwise protected by the Copyright Act.