Re: Aphorisms and Copyright

From: Bob Stock <bstock[_at_]ucla.edu>
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 19:47:05 -0700

On 8/18/98, Howard G. Zaharoff <hgz[_at_]buslaw128.com> wrote:
>
> As for the potential copyrightable of short works (in this case,
> one-liners) see Foxworthy v. Custom Tees, 879 F. Supp 1200, 1219.

Unfortunately, Foxworthy does not address the copyrightable subject matter issue of the jokes. The defendant in Foxworthy apparently contended: (1) because one of plaintiff's books was a compilation, the registration did not cover the components of the compilation and (2) the jokes were not original to plaintiff. The court found both assertions to be without merit, but the court never discussed the copyrightability of short jokes. One wonders why. Was it the incompetence of defense counsel, or was there something else going on?

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

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Received on Thu Aug 20 1998 - 02:45:33 GMT