On Sat, 22 Feb 1997, "Ralph D. Clifford" <rdc[_at_]world.std.com> wrote:
>
> Where protection of the copyright laws could be claimed is in the
> subject-oriented information in a typical library catalog. The
> process of summarizing the meaning of a book into a one word
> description would clearly demonstrate the minimal creativity
> required for copyright protection.
I respectfully disagree. Many books in libraries have multiple subject headings. Additionally, the headings are not always one word, they could be a few words. It seems to me that although in some cases there may be a slight amount of creativity in picking those headings, the majority of what the process entails is labor. Feist addressed white pages, but Bellsouth v. Donnelley addressed yellow pages, and there was even an "argument" between the majority and the dissent about the level of creativity involved in picking yellow pages headings.
>From the majority:
"While the listings in BAPCO's yellow pages required somewhat more organization and arrangement than the white pages directory considered in Feist, BAPCO's claim of "originality" must be resolved by comparison to other business telephone directories. BAPCO did not deviate from the arrangement of the typical business directory, which employs an alphabetical list of headings to describe the various types of businesses and then alphabetizes the listings under the appropriate headings."
Bellsouth Advertising v. Donnelley Information Publishing, 999 F.2d 1436 (11th Cir. 1993).
The dissent reasoned differently, pointing out that not only were there main headings involved, but all the subheadings, and enumerated a list of subheadings under Bakers-Retail as proof of some level of complexity.
"With so many related headings to describe a business principally known as a bakery, BAPCO's arrangement of the listing of a particular bakery under one, two, three, four, or more headings is neither "obvious" nor "practically inevitable" as defined in Feist."
Id. (Hatchett, J., dissenting).
Now one can attempt to distinguish some factual differences between library catalog subject headings and yellow pages headings, and one can also point to some other features unique to BAPCO, i.e., who decides under which heading the entry will actually go, but my guess is (and librarians can chime in with their greater expertise) that the selection of headings and the selection of how a book is allocated to a particular heading is not really any more creative than the yellow pages context. The volume is certainly greater because there are a lot more subjects in the library universe than in the business phone universe, but, to me, that's just a lot more sweat of the brow.
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