Re: Aphorisms and Copyright

From: Bob Stock <bstock[_at_]ucla.edu>
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1998 08:41:30 -0700

(court order kindly supplied by Bob has been severely edited)

On 8/13/98, Robert Cumbow <cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> wrote:
>
> On Wed, August 12, 1998, Bob Stock <bstock[_at_]ucla.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Ashleigh Brilliant comes up with pithy sayings and registers them with
> > the US Copyright Office.
> >

[snip]
> > Conventional copyright wisdom is that such short phrases are not
> > copyrightable, but I haven't read the case referred to (and can't find
> > it on the Internet).
>
> ASHLEIGH BRILLIANT v. W. B. PRODUCTIONS, INC., No. CV 79-1893-WMB,
> 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9092 (C.D.Cal., October 19, 1979).
>
> Epigram No. 1:
>
> "I MAY NOT BE TOTALLY PERFECT,
> BUT PARTS OF ME ARE EXCELLENT."
>
> Epigram No. 2:
>
> "I HAVE ABANDONED MY SEARCH FOR TRUTH,
> AND AM NOW LOOKING FOR A GOOD FANTASY."
>

[snip]
> 2. That the defendant has infringed plaintiff's copyrights in
> Epigrams Nos. 1 and 2.
>

[snip]
> 4. That the defendant, its agents, officers, attorneys and
> employees and all acting in concert or participation with them, be and
> hereby are permanently restrained and enjoined from offering for sale or
> selling heat transfers containing expressions identical or substantially
> similar to plaintiff's epigrams set forth above.

Obviously, these are bare conclusions with no analysis as to the threshold question of copyrightability, but what the hell is a heat transfer, and why would defendant use those kinds of sayings on such a product?

And what do people think of the copyrightability of these sayings? Is there any reason to suppose that Judge Byrne was correct in his finding of infringement? Does it matter that these sayings were copyrighted under the 1909 Act?

---

Bob Stock <bstock[_at_]ucla.edu>
UCLA School of Law '98
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1206/

---

Received on Fri Aug 14 1998 - 15:39:56 GMT