Re: Aphorisms and Copyright

Timothy Phillips <hrothgar[_at_]telepath.com> wrote:
>
> Daniel Schaeffer <daniel_schaeffer[_at_]kirkland.com> wrote:
> >
> > You can't be sure of that. If I own a copyright in a collection of
> > my aphorisms, and you snag one of them for a T-shirt, I can make a
> > prima facie case of copyright infringement -- you directly copied
> > part of my copyrighted work. You may have a fair use defense, but
> > it's not a lock. (You're not going to claim that the copyright in
> > a book does not protect against partial copying, are you?)
>
> Copyright only extends to the COPYRIGHTABLE features of the work.

I completely agree, but

> If the melody of "Old Hundredth" in a modern songbook is the same
> melody that appeared in the 16th-century metrical psalters, then
> it can be copied from the modern songbook just as it could be
> from an original copy of one of the 16th-century books.

Attention: There may be a copyright for the editor or the publisher. In this case you would be permitted to make a copy from the original or from the copy of the 16th-century book, but not from the modern songbook.

Moritz Roettinger

Dr. Moritz Roettinger LL.M.
European Commission, Brussels
Universities of Vienna and Saarbruecken
moritz.roettinger[_at_]dg23.cec.be Received on Mon Aug 24 1998 - 07:13:50 GMT