Re: Constitutional Challenge to (C) Code

On Fri, 3 Apr 1998, John Logie <antrobus[_at_]ripco.com> wrote:
>
> Robert Cumbow <cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> wrote:
> >
> > Does Mr. Logie really believe that a single five-letter word, no matter
> > how original, is protected by copyright?
>
> Dear Mr. Cumbow -
>
> Mr. Logie worries that in our current context it might be possible for
> the Shaw estate to successfully argue that GHOTI is (c) G.B. Shaw.

As a technical point, the issue would not be whether a single five-letter word is subject to copyright, but whether a copyrighted work can be infringed by the taking of a single five-letter word from it.

One would hope the answer is "no," but I recall one case finding infringement for the taking of only two letters. Of course, the letters in that case were "E.T."

--
Terry Carroll       |  "I know the Great Lakes.  I've traveled the 
Santa Clara, CA     |  Great Lakes.  And Lake Champlain is not one of
carroll[_at_]tjc.com     |  the Great Lakes." - U.S. Senator John Glenn reacts
Modell delendus est |  to 33 U.S.C. 1122 as amended by Pub.L. 105-160