Re: copyright/ plastic surgeon

On 24/5/97, Jamie Powers <jamie[_at_]srgpe.com> is rumored to have typed:
>
> Anyone out there with other knowledge of any copyright protection
> being extended to human form/features?

A UK case concerning the appearance of the pop singer Adam (of Adam and the Ants) is the only one I know of.

The case is MERCHANDISING CORP OF AMERICA INC. v. HARPBOND LTD [1983] FSR 32. Adam Ant had a particular costume and face paint design. He alleged that his appearance was subject to copyright which was being infringed by another. The case is primarily concerned about the issue of whether the human face can constitute an "artistic work". (Query whether the distinctively lined features of Gore Vidal could constitute a literary work...).

There is need to determine whether the face falls into one or other of the categories of works or things in which copyright might subsist.

The court decided that the face concerned was not a painting even though paint had been applied to it. The detailed discussion of what does constitute an artistic work makes interesting reading.

The decision has been queried since for some of its reasoning. The judge, Lawton LJ held that skin was not able to part of a painting in the same way that canvas is. Paintings, he said, are objects and not ideas. Without the skin, you are left with the paint alone and that is insufficient to be a painting.

The decision does not appear to tackle the question of more permanent alterations like surgery or tattoos. However, the more fundamental question is whether the decision was made because of the perception that a painted face could not sustain copyright because it was an ephemeral work (or at least non-permanent). It is certain that short-lived works are quite able to support copyright.

In the end, the judge found for the plaintiff because the make-up artists and the record producers had made a photograph of the face and the infringer had therefore also copied that work.

Kind regards,

Jim Lennon.
Intellectual Property & Contracts Officer The University of Western Australia.
Perth. WA. 6907. Australia.

Telephone: (+61 8) 9380-1965
Fax: (+61 8) 9380-1328
<jlennon[_at_]acs.uwa.edu.au> Received on Wed May 28 1997 - 01:56:47 GMT