Re: Copyright protection limits

From: Joseph P. Riolo <riolo[_at_]scranton.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 1996 08:24:31 -0500 (EST)

On Sat, 2 Mar 1996 MSibley[_at_]aol.com wrote:
>
> An author writes a book on a unique way he has devised of looking
> at human development through a number of distinct stages. What is
> copyrighted, merely the way the author described the stages of
> development (the expression) or does the copyright protect the
> author's unique paradigm of the stages of developement as well?
> What is the line that distinguishes between the expression and the
> ideas and concepts? For example, if the stages could be described
> by the chapter titles, are the chapter titles protected?

     Ideas and concepts are something that are not fixed in tangible things. Expressions are the shapes (that is, letters) that you can see, touch, or feel on the tangible things. So, since paradigm is an idea, it is not copyrightable. But, it may be patented.

     Titles are too short to be copyrightable. Even if they are very long, one can look at the titles and get the ideas of what stages are and write another expression of the same ideas.

     If you really want to protect the paradigm, you need to treat it as a trade secret and share it only with others who sign the agreement.

> Could someone else familiar with the author's paradigm come along a
> write a book about it even though they don't use the same wording to
> describe it?

     Indeed, he or she can express the author's paradigm in different wordings.

> Must they give acknowledgement or pay royalties to the author?

     It is a courtesy to give acknowledgement but it is not required by the copyright law. Any imitator is not required to pay the royalties.

> Could someone give lectures or presentations using the author's
> paradigm without acknowledgement?

     Yes. Again, acknowledgement is not required.

> What is the difference, in these cases between plagiarism and
> copyright infringement?

     Copyright infringement occurs only when you copy any tangible thing. If you copy few sentences without giving credit, it is not copyright infringement if it is fair use even though it is considered as plagiarism. Also, even though expressing the paradigm without acknowledging the originator is considered as a plagiarism, it is not a copyright infringement.

     However, there could be other laws that disallow the misappropriation. For example, you can not tell the buyers that your book is approved by the originator who does not approve it at the first place. But, I do not know too much about these laws and I will not say much about them.

.............................. Joseph Pietro Riolo .............................

..... <riolo[_at_]scranton.com> <riolo[_at_]postoffice.ptd.net> <riolo[_at_]pica.army.mil> .... .......... http://home.ptd.net/~riolo/joseph.html - 100% public domain ......... Received on Tue Mar 05 1996 - 12:22:56 GMT