Re: copyrighted forms

On Thu, 7 Oct 1999, Greg Erkins <gerkins[_at_]gci.net> wrote:
>
> Can a person who is authorized to use certain copyrighted forms

   In the US, forms may not be copyrighted. Anyone can place a copyright notice on a form, but that does not "make it so". You can also put a copyright notice on a slogan, and again, no copyright will be present.

> take those forms and put them in a computer program that would
> generate those forms, create a database and use them under fair
> use?

A fair use analysis requires much more information.

> Can that same person sell that newly created program to someone that
> is authorized to use those same forms?

You need to contact an attorney to evaluate liability. If there is a license agreement for the forms, then protection of the forms may be effective under the license, even though copyright may not apply.

> Does not the newly created program belong to the person that developed
> it while the forms on paper without the use of a program still belong
> to the original copyright owner?

Not necessarily, again, an attorney can sort out who the "owner" and "author" are at law. This is not an analysis that can be done over the 'net.

> Would the original copyright owner if they wanted to used the program
> have to pay or be licensed by the person that wrote the program just
> like anyone else?
>
> Would the answer be the same in all countries?

Not necessarily, an attorney would analyze the situation in the countries that your were concerned about...

> I would appreciate any insight.

If this is more than a curiosity, contact an intellectual property attorney. If you are in Massachusetts, contact me by email and I can discuss how I can represent you in this important matter.

Thomas Workman
<tworkman[_at_]erols.com> Received on Fri Oct 08 1999 - 22:24:38 GMT