Well, the Second Circuit has decided...pagination is not a copyrightable (is
that a word??) component of the West Reporter system. There is quite a bit
more to the two separate opinions. Read on at
http://laws.findlaw.com/2nd/977430.html and
http://laws.findlaw.com/2nd/977910.html
For Sweet's dissents : http://laws.findlaw.com/2nd/977430dis.html and
http://laws.findlaw.com/2nd/977910dis.html
Cut and pasted below:
"However, as is clear from the second Feist element, copyright protection in
compilations "may extend only to those components of a work that are
original to the author." Id. at 348, 111 S. Ct. at 1289. The "originality"
requirement encompasses requirements both "that the work was independently
created . . ., and that it possesses at least some minimal degree of
creativity." Id. at 345, 111 S. Ct. at 1287 (emphasis added); see also Key
Publications, Inc. v. Chinatown Today Publ'g Enters., Inc., 945 F.2d 509,
512-13 (2d Cir. 1991) ("Simply stated, original means not copied, and
exhibiting a minimal amount of creativity."). At issue here are references
to West's volume and page numbers distributed through the text of
plaintiffs' versions of judicial opinions. West concedes that the pagination
of its volumes--i.e., the insertion of page breaks and the assignment of
page numbers--is determined by an automatic computer program, and West does
not seriously claim that there is anything original or creative in that
process. As Judge Martin noted, "where and on what particular pages the text
of a court opinion appears does not embody any original creation of the
compiler." Because the internal pagination of West's case reporters does not
entail even a modicum of creativity, the volume and page numbers are not
original components of West's compilations and are not themselves protected
by West's compilation copyright.10 See Feist, 499 U.S. at 363, 111 S. Ct. at
1297 ("As a constitutional matter, copyright protects only those constituent
elements of a work that possess more than a de minimis quantum of
creativity.").
I'm sure that West will attempt a hearing en banc or a trip to the Supremes.
It will certainly be an interesting ride, especially for companies like
mine.
Gayle M. O'Connor, Sales and Marketing, Versuslaw
Outstanding Mother & Wife, Bodybuilder, Law Librarian,
ABA TechShow Board Member, Past SLA Legal Div. Chair, Author, Hard Worker
and All Around Decent Person http://www.versuslaw.com 425-250-0142
Ext.3027
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