There can be a lot of confusion when it comes to protecting intellectual property like copyrights. Part of the confusion lies in the fact that there are three main types of intellectual property that are given legal protection under three different statutory protection regimes — copyrights, trademarks, and patents. In this article, the top-rated Copyright Attorneys at Revision Legal discuss some of the things that CANNOT be copyrighted.
What is a Copyright?
A copyright is a legal protection for:
- An original
- Work of creative authorship
- Made by a human being
- Fixed in a tangible medium — like paper, photographic film, audio recording, etc.
A copyright gives the owner the exclusive right to reproduce, sell, perform, or make other use of the copyrighted work. Further, copyright law protects works that are derivative of the original work of authorship.
From the above definition, we can see various things that CANNOT be copyrighted. For example, you cannot copyright something that is not original and not yours. As noted, this applies to derivative works. So, if you are a fan of Star Wars or Harry Potter, you cannot copyright stories that are derivative of those stories and characters. Indeed, any effort to create such stories might cause you to be sued for copyright infringement.
An exception applies for original works for which the copyrights have expired. The various works of Shakespeare were written so long ago that any copyrights for them have long expired. Thus, if you were to write a derivative story about Romeo and Juliet, your new story can be copyrighted.
Original works of creative authorship also exclude various things that might be deemed to lack creative authorship. These include common phrasing and common ideas, which, being common, cannot then be deemed original. Also excluded are information, tabulations, and data since such are not original creative works. For example, weather data is not something that can be copyrighted. Note further that original creative works must have a human origin to be copyrightable. Thus, for example, the US Copyright Office rejects copyright applications for works created by computers and by animals.
A few other things that cannot be copyrighted include:
- Ideas, methods, processes, and inventions — if these can have legal protection, the protection is afforded by patent law (although ideas are problematic under patent law as well as copyright law)
- Formulas, instructions, lists, recipes, etc. — again, if protectable, patent law would be the manner of protection
- Original works of authorship created by government officials
- Names, titles, slogans, and short phrases — these are most often protected under trademark law
- Internet domain names — these are legally protected under rules and procedures promulgated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
- Materials in the public domain — some authors of original works explicitly release their works into the public domain for everyone to use/enjoy; other materials “fall” into the public domain after the expiration of their copyright protections; government documents are public domain
- Typefaces, lettering, fonts, etc. — these might be protectable under trademark law
- Layout and design — might be protectable under design patent law.
Contact The Copyright Attorneys at Revision Legal
For more information, contact the experienced Copyright Lawyers at Revision Legal. You can contact us through the form on this page or call (855) 473-8474.
