Re: Aphorisms and Copyright

On Mon, August 17, 1998, Terry Carroll <carroll[_at_]tjc.com> wrote:
>
> On Mon, 17 Aug 1998, Cumbow, Robert-SEA wrote:
> >
> > I wish there had been more analysis in the order. The judge was
> > clearly in a tough spot, forced either to acknowledge the validity
> > of Brilliant's copyright in these short sayings, or to tell Brilliant,
> > in effect, that every time he wrote one of these sayings for his
> > syndicated newspaper feature, it was fair game for anyone to exploit
> > without a license.
>
> I don't have any problem with the latter.

Why not? A cartoonist draws an illustration for a newspaper, and it's protected by copyright. An aphorist writes a clever saying for a newspaper and it's up for grabs? Where's the difference?

Bob Cumbow
Perkins Coie LLP
cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com
206-583-8566 Received on Wed Aug 19 1998 - 15:21:29 GMT