Re: Re: Scanning books into electronic format

Characters -- maybe, if well enough established. Situations -- not if generic or types, yes, if specific setting, situation, interaction, language, etc. A situation involving magicians getting lost in a maze would not be copyrighted, but one that tracks with the maze Harry Potter got trapped in, with the same traps, in the same order, with the same conflicts would be copyrighted. It would be fairly thin such that almost any differences would be adequate (mazes being common in fantasy fiction and puzzles and traps being scenes a faire), but the precise situation and sequence would likely be protected.

Nonetheless, in general situations in its more general or abstract meaning is not protected, at least in the US. See the Nichols cae by Learned Hand in 1930 for what is still the best exposition of this problem, at least in literature.

Steve

On 9/14/06, Wallace J.McLean <ag737[_at_]freenet.carleton.ca> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Agenbroad, James (Civ,ARL/CISD)" <jagenbro[_at_]arl.army.mil>
> Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 5:15 pm
> Subject: [CNI-(C)] Re: [CNI-(C)] Scanning books into electronic format
>
> > Among the exclusive rights granted to the owner of a copyright under
> > 17USC106 is the right "(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the
> > copyrighted work". Fanfic would certainly count as a derivative
> > work in that it incorporates the characters and situations created
> by others
> > into a new work.
>
> Characters, yes.
>
> Situations? Not necessarily.
>
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-- 
Prof. Steven Jamar
Howard University School of Law