Burrow Giles Lithographic - Copyright Law - Lecture Slides, Slides of Law

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Burrow-Giles Lithographic Society v. Sarony (1884) CB 29

• What were the 2 important constitutional questions on which the Supreme Court had to rule in this case? Docsity.com

Some other Photos by Napoleon Sarony

Alfred Bell & Co. v. Catalda (2d Cir. 1951) CB 51

• Were the plaintiff’s

mezzotints copyrightable,

according to Justice

Frank?

• Do you agree? Why or why

not? Docsity.com

COPYRIGHTABILITY

Two statutory requirements for copyright protection in s. 102(a)

• 1. Original work of authorship
• 2. Fixation

Learned Hand: Independent Creation Requirement

• “.. .[I]f by some magic a man who had never known it were to compose anew Keats’ Ode On a Grecian Urn, he would bean “author,” and, if he copyrighted it, others might not copy that poem, though they might of course copy Keats.”
• Sheldon v. MGM, 81 F.2d 49, 54 (2d Cir. 1936), aff’d, 309 U.S. 390 (1940)

Can “Dr. Nerd” Copyright...

-... a heretofore undiscovered and unpublished manuscript of a Shakespeare play that he found while exploring the stacks of Mullen Library?

In Bell v. Catalda, Justice Frank stated:

• “A copyist’s bad eyesight or defective musculature, or a shock caused by a clap of thunder, may yield sufficiently distinguishable variations [to be considered original enough to be copyrighted]. Having hit on such a variation unintentionally, the “author” may adopt it as his own and copyright it.”

COPYRIGHTABILITY:

ORIGINALITY

REQUIREMENT

Two aspects:

• (1) independent creation
• (2) at least some minimal degree of creativity
• See Feist , 499 U.S. 340 (1991)
  • CB p. 75

Copyright Office Regulation provides that some works are not copyrightable, including:

• “Words and short phrases, such as names, titles, and slogans, familiar symbols or designs, mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering or coloring; mere listing of ingredients or contents.” – 37 C.F.R. § 202.1(a)

WORKS OF AUTHORSHIP

• See s. 102(a) (1)-(8)
• Overlapping?
• Exclusive?

FIXATION

• Like originality, fixation is required for a work to be copyrightable
• It is a constitutional requirement - a work must be a “writing” to be copyrightable

FIXATION

• Second requirement for copyrightability
• Constitutional Requirement
• Statutory Requirement

FIXATION REQUIREMENT

• See also 17 U.S.C. § 101: “A work is “fixed” in a tangible medium of expression when its embodiment in a copy or phonorecord, by or under the authority of the author, is sufficiently permanent or stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration. A work consisting of sounds, images, or both, that are being transmitted, is “fixed” for purposes of this title if a fixation of the work is being made simultaneously with its transmission”

SPORTING AND OTHER

EVENTS

• Is the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade fixed?