Re: True or False Question (Copying the copyrighted public domain...)

From: Bob Stock <bstock[_at_]ucla.edu>
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 97 07:55:12 PST

On Fri, 07 Feb 97, "Cumbow,Robert-SEA" <cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> wrote:
>
> It is not creativity but originality that is required by copyright
> protection.

My understanding is that creativity is subsumed in the originality requirement, that essentially originality has two parts to it: (1) that the work originated with the author and (2) that it has some creativity (usually not a lot).

"To qualify for copyright protection, a work must be original to the author. Original, as the term is used in copyright, means only that the work was independently created by the author (as opposed to copied from other works), and that it possesses at least some minimal degree of creativity. To be sure, the requisite level of creativity is extremely low; even a slight amount will suffice."

Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co., 499 U.S. 340, 345 (1991) (citations omitted).



Bob Stock <bstock[_at_]ucla.edu>
2L - UCLA School of Law
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1206/
Received on Tue Feb 11 1997 - 16:39:39 GMT

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