Re: Re: Copyright of lists

>So what would be a
>protectible "selection" that results in an alphabetized list being
>protectible? I cant think of an example. Can anyone cite a relevant
>case? What if I come up with an incredibly creative parts numbering
>system for parts and I create a list of the parts by their numbers
>assigned? Protectible?

I think there's caselaw holding a business directory (Yellow Pages) protectible; and also a case holding the AMA's diagnostic codes protectible.

At 10:30 PM -0500 15/1/07, Webb, Jere wrote:
>I have always thought the "selection" part of "selection and
>arrangement" is a very interesting and troubling concept In the Feist
>case (which surprised most copyright lawyers by holding that the white
>pages of the phone book are not protectable), it didn't matter how much
>sweat of the brow the publisher put into "selecting" only real living
>individuals for the book. Take this example: you decide to publish a
>list of everyone in a city that has green hair. Many hours are made
>implementing this selection. Copyright protection? I don't think so.
>No creativity in the selection, although there might have been a lot of
>creativity in implementing the selection. I had a case once where
>someone copied verbatim several hundred pages of my clients government
>application for a license and filed it as a competing application. The
>application consisted mainly of maps that had been prepared from
>government (i.e. public domain) maps "selecting" certain features
>relevant to the license application. Copyright protection? I decided
>this was a close call and found the cases confusing. Another example:
>what if through sheer creative genius someone comes up with an algorithm
>to select from a database list a certain subset of data of interest to
>some particular group or industry. The result is then presented as an
>alphabetical list? Copyright protection? I'm not sure. What if I go
>thru my college yearbook and "select" everyone in my class by use of my
>amazing powers of recognition and then publish them in an alphetical
>list. Copyright protection? I don't think so. So what would be a
>protectible "selection" that results in an alphabetized list being
>protectible? I cant think of an example. Can anyone cite a relevant
>case? What if I come up with an incredibly creative parts numbering
>system for parts and I create a list of the parts by their numbers
>assigned? Protectible? No according to one court which observed that
>"clasifications schemes can in principle be creative enough to satisfy
>the creativity requirement for copyright protection" but that in the
>case before the court "all creative aspects of the classification are
>just that: ideas". The court said that the merger doctrine and the
>originality doctrine kill copyright protection for this sort of thing
>because "For almost all types of creativity claimed [by the plaintiff}
>there is only one reasonable way to expess the underlying idea". This
>latter point would doom many if not most creative selection cases.
>
>Jere
>
>Jere M. Webb
>Stoel Rives LLP
>Standard Insurance Building
>900 SW Fifth Ave., Suite 2600
>Portland, OR 97204
>
>Phone: 503-294-9460
>Fax: 503-220-2480
>Email: jmwebb[_at_]stoel.com
>
>Secretary: Nancy Campbell
>Phone: 503-294-9316
>Email: nacampbell[_at_]stoel.com
>
>www.stoel.com
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property
>[mailto:CNI-COPYRIGHT[_at_]cni.org] On Behalf Of jfnbl[_at_]earthlink.com
>Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 03:50 PM
>To: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property
>Subject: [CNI-(C)] 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 Wed Jan 17 2007 - 03:55:00 GMT