Re: Copyright of lists

IBD is entitled to "very thin" copyright protection for the selection and arrangement of its list of industry groups. In this case, the arrangement -- alphabetical -- is unoriginal, almost unavoidable, and undoubtedly unprotectible. The selection is another matter. The range of available choices for a taxonomy of industry groups is vast if not limitless. You say that "some of [your] names are similar but not the same," and "in a few cases [your] names and their names are the same." To the extent your example is representative -- 3 of 4 identical, and the fourth a slight variation -- you are close to the virtually identical reproduction (right down to the use of a matching abbreviation, Bldg) that would be required to establish infringement of IBD's very thin copyright. You won't find it in the statute or the caselaw, but in the real world this kind of subjective judgment is often based on unstated equitable considerations. It strikes me that it would be impossible to have arrived at your taxonomy without having copied theirs -- for commercial advantage, with strategic alterations to avoid a charge of slavish copying. In other words, one gets the sense that you are trading on the good will associated with their industry group listing. If you are selling subscriptions to a service that substitutes for theirs at half the price, it calls to mind the knock-offs of Gucci purses sold by street vendors. No offense intended. Maybe your product is superior. But it smells like a knock-off. The "right" legal claim would be unfair competition, except that the Copyright Act probably preempts the unfair competition claim. If the Copyright Act's preemption provision deprives IBD of what would otherwise be a good state law claim, then the court is going to be inclined to find a remedy in the Copyright Act.

Disclaimer: I'm not your lawyer, and you need one.

John Noble

At 4:05 PM -0500 9/1/07, HGS wrote:
>My question is about copyright law regarding a list of titles.
>
>I am a small business owner. I use a list of industry group titles in my
>business to classify stock market companies. The name of my industry group
>list is "Industry Monitors 200". The name is not trademarked or
>copyrighted. Here is a partial example of my list:
>
>Industry Monitors 200
> Banking-Foreign
> Banking-Midwest
> Banking-West
> Bldg-Hand Tools
>
>My Industry Monitors list has a total of 192 titles.
>
>Another company William O'Neil + Co. 197 Industry Groups (tm) also has a
>list that they call the IBD 197 Industry Groups. IBD is "Investor's Business
>Daily" a very large newspaper for investors.
>
>Here is a partial example of their list:
>
>IBD 197 Industry Groups
> Banks-Foreign
> Banks-Midwest
> Banks-West/Southwest
> Bldg-Hand Tools
>
>Some of my names are similar but not the same. In a few cases my names and
>their names are the same. They have 197 industry groups, I have 192
>industry groups.
>
>Is each name in their list copyrighted such that if I have the exact same
>name in my list I will be violating their copyright? Does a list that looks
>similar come under copyright protection?
>
>They have recently contacted me with this statement:
>
>The "HGSI Industry Group" list impermissibly copies from IBD's copyrighted
>industry group list and violates IBD copyright" (HGSI is the acronym used
>for my product and website HighGrowthStock Investor)
>
>Thank you for any assistance.
>
>Regards,
>George Roberts
>
>
>
>
>
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Received on Sat Jan 13 2007 - 04:50:00 GMT