Re: Cardboard Mosaic

Christina Mikorey <mikorey[_at_]rumms.uni-mannheim.de> wrote:
>
> Here is a copyright problem I came upon by chance and couldn't stop
> thinking about:
>
> A friend of mine, not an artist by profession, lately sent me a very
> thick cardboard sheet, which on one side was white and blank and on the
> other side had following request: He wrote me that he was sending such
> sheets to all his friends with the request to design the blank side of
> it in any way they pleased. But they should give the sheets back to him
> as he plans to hang of them, when designed by his friends, on a wall as
> part of a project he calls (translated) "People in Timeflux".
>
> Now, if I send back "my" designed cardboard, who owns the copyright?
> Me or my friend? What if "my" cardboard isn't original but the other
> cardboards by his friends are? Or what if all the cardboards aren't
> designed in an original way? Does my friend still have a copyright?
>
> BTW, I am not asking about the copyright law of a specific country.

Hi, Christina. Under US law, the individual contributors would each own the copyright in their material drawn on the cardboard sheet (assuming that it was otherwise copyrightable, ie is an "original work of authorship"). However, the friend would very likely have a nonexclusive license to use each contribution, at least in his collage (an assignment or exclusive license [or commissioned work for hire agreement] would have to be in writing, signed by the transferor or her agent). Your friend will be the author of a "collective work" comprised of the selection, coordination and arrangement of the individual contributions, but his rights to exploit that collective work are dependent on what rights he has in the individual contributions. To the extent that any of the individual contributions are not independently copyrightable (eg they are not "original"), your friend's collection would be a "compilation" (similar to a collective work, except that the components themselves are not copyrightable), which would still be copyrightable if it consists of sufficient selection, coordination and arrangement to be an "original work of authorship". Of course, to the extent a contribution is not copyrightable, your friend wouldn't require a further grant of rights to utilize that particular contribution from the person who submitted it (but there would be some risk as to any work copied by a submitter).

Of course this does not constitute legal advice, etc. etc., but I hope it helps you analyze your question, as to U.S. law anyway!

Prof. Jay Dougherty
Loyola Law School
Los Angeles
213-736-1461
fjdoughe[_at_]lmulaw.lmu.edu Received on Mon Jul 06 1998 - 23:03:36 GMT