Re: copyright/ plastic surgeon

On 05/21/97, G. de Bruin <blueger[_at_]worldaccess.nl> wrote:
>
> Can anyone tell me if a plastic surgeon (in the USA) has a copyright
> on his work?

Under US law, any work of originality fixed in a tangible medium is protected by copyright. This is so regardless of whether the creator of the work places a plainly visible copyright notice on the work.

> So, if he or she gives you eg. a new face, is that work protected as
> a copyrightwork?

Well, it surely satisfies the requirement of having been fixed in a tangible medium. Then the only remaining question is whether the work is original.

If the patient came in with a photo and said "give me a nose like that one," and if the surgeon were to comply, then arguably nothing original has been added by the surgeon.

> And if so, how does that relates to the operated person?

I suspect that absent a writing on the subject, the patient would have an implied license to the face. In other words, the surgeon could not sue the patient for copyright infringement if the patient were to use the face for the things that faces are regularly and customarily used for. I can hazard a guess that this implied license would go so far as to permit the patient to authorize others to photograph the patient's face.

Of course, for anyone who actually cares about this for their own situation, I strongly suggest consulting competent intellectual property counsel.

Carl Oppedahl
<carl[_at_]oppedahl.com> Received on Thu May 22 1997 - 20:20:03 GMT