Intellectual Property Law

Chapter 10 Discussion Answers

1. Indicate whether the following are likely copyrightable or not copyrightable. If
they are not copyrightable, indicate why not.

• The name of a restaurant
Not copyrightable. Names and titles are not copyrightable
(although it is possible that the name might qualify for
trademark protection).

• A Ph.D dissertation
Copyrightable (as a literary work).

• A celebratory dance performed by a football player who makes a
touchdown
Not copyrightable. It is not “fixed” and is not choreography
but rather a short series of isolated bodily movements.

• The name Spider Man
Not copyrightable. Names are not copyrightable.

• The character Spider Man
This character should be copyrightable because it is well
delineated and its key characteristics are well defined and have
remained consistent.

• A salsa dance
Not copyrightable. This is a social dance and does not qualify
for protection as a choreographic work.

• The case Brown v. Board of Education
Not copyrightable. Works of the U.S. government cannot be
copyrighted (because the public needs access to these works).

• A law review article analyzing Brown v. Board of Education
This is copyrightable as a literary work.

2. A movie studio would like to make a film based on the 1846 Edgar Allan Poe
(1809–1849) short story “The Cask of Amontillado.” Discuss whether permission
must be obtained for the movie version.
No permission need be obtained. The work is no longer protected by
copyright, is in the public domain, and is free for anyone to use.

3. Is a truck copyrightable? Discuss. Is a painting on a sign attached to the truck
copyrightable? Discuss.
Trucks are not copyrightable because they are useful articles. The art
work on the truck is copyrightable because it is not needed for
utilitarian purposes and can be identified separately from and is
capable of existing independently of the useful truck.

4. You have been thinking of developing a television show about a group of
scientists and mathematicians who are friends and who are socially awkward yet
endearing. Is this protected by copyright? Discuss.
No. Mere ideas are not copyrightable. This idea must be “expressed”
in words or some other permanent medium for it to be protectable.

5. Indicate whether the following are compilations, collective works, or derivative
works.

• The March 2016 issue of Intellectual Law Quarterly, containing eight
articles on copyright law
This is a collective work.

• A list of the best music videos of 2015
This is a collective work.

• A sculpture based on a drawing
This is a derivative work.

• The English translation of the French novel Suite Francaise
This is a derivative work.

• A new version of the doll Malibu Barbie
This is a derivative work (it is a new version).

• A directory entitled Best Restaurants in Chicago
This is a compilation—the selection and decision as to which
restaurants to include provides “originality” and thus the work
is copyrightable as a compilation (even though the names of the
restaurants, their phone numbers, etc. are mere
uncopyrightable facts).

• A book of photos taken by various photographers during the Pope’s 2015
visit to the United States
This is a collective work.

6. A literary critic has written a substantive new foreword to the famous novel To
Kill a Mockingbird. Discuss the copyrights in both works and the effect of the
foreword on the original novel.
The foreword is a new work and it has its own copyright (the duration
of which is 70 years after its author’s death). This foreword is a
derivative work. It has no effect whatsoever on the nature, scope, or
duration of the copyright in the underlying novel, which is protected
for the life of its author and for 70 years thereafter (specifically, 70
years after 2016).