COPYRIGHT LAW FALL 2006 PROFESSOR FISCHER THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Class 8: September 18, 2006
WRAP-UP: COPYRIGHT – exceptions for FACTS/FUNCTIONALITY Baker and the blank forms doctrine Criticism of the bright-line rule in Bibbero as inconsistent with originality requirement set out in Feist (conflicting case law in 2d and 9 th Circuits on this) Merger doctrine (criticism of this being applied too broadly) Copyrightability of historical facts, historical theories
Wainwright Securities CB p. 133 Copyright protection of news events? Overprotection?
Protection for Factual Research? Does Feist sing the swan song for the “judicial ugly duckling” of Toksvig?
Invented Facts Can a phone number be copyrightable?
103(a) The subject matter of copyright as specified by s. 102 includes compilations and derivative works, but protection for a work employing preexisting material in which copyright subsists does not extend to any part of the work in which such material has been used unlawfully.
103(b) The copyright in a compilation or derivative work extends only to the matter contributed by the author of such work, as distinguished from the preexisting material employed in the work, and does not imply any exclusive right in the preexisting material. The copyright in such work is independent of, and does not affect or enlarge the scope, duration, ownership, or subsistence of, any copyright protection in the preexisting material.
DEFINITION OF COMPILATION AT S. 101 A compilation is a work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship. The term “compilation:” includes collective works.
FEIST “Thin” Copyright Protection for compilations “Sweat of the brow doctrine”
Cases After Feist
What is a Compilation Why was the greeting card in Roth (CB p. 131) protectable as a compilation while the set of signs in Sem-Torq (CB p. 132) was not?
HYPO: FURNITURE DESIGNS Can an arrangement of furniture in a showroom be copyrightable? See Baldine v. Furniture Comfort Corp., 956 F. Supp. 580 (M.D.N.C. 1996)
Hypo 4 CB p. 135 Has Haberman infringed Cantor’s copyright? Are there any other persons who can legitimtely complain of copyright infringement?
CCC Information Services v. Maclean Hunter Copyrightability of the Automobile Red Book – Official Used Car Valuations Why didn’t the merger doctrine argument succeed?
PICKING NUMBERS – COPYRIGHTABLE? Compare Southco and ATC at CB p Are these consistent with Feist or CCC?
WIREdata p. 152 CB Why couldn’t AT succeed in stopping WIREdata from extracting noncopyrighted data based on its compilation copyright?
Fairness Feist CB p. 121: “It may seem unfair that much of the fruit of the compiler’s labor may be used by others without compensation” Do you agree?
Sui Generis Right Is there a need for a sui generis right protecting databases in the US?
BellSouth Advertising v. Donnelley CB p. 153 Describe the reasoning of the lone dissenting judge? Who is right, in your opinion, the majority or the ?
Another Hypo Jon compiles a list of all 50 states. Can she argue that her list is copyrightable? What if Jon compiles a list of the 12 states containing the best dressed models? Does it matter if Jon arranges the states in alphabetical order?
OTHER KINDS OF COMPILATIONS Can a greeting card be copyrightable as a compilation? See Roth v. United Card Co., 429 F.2d 1106 (9th Cir. 1970) Can a T-shirt be copyrightable as a compilation? See Matthews v. Freeman, 157 F.3d 25 (1st Cir. 1998) p. 139 CB Can a videogame be copyrightable as a compilation? Atari v. Oman, 979 F.2d 242 (D.C. Cir. 1992) p. 138 CB