Menu
5. Short phrases |
According to 37 C.F.R. § 202.1(a), "[w]ords and short phrases such as names, titles, and slogans" are not copyrightable. However, the mere presence of the words and short phrases does not determine copyrightability. What matters is whether the terms are creative. (Society of Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Inc. v. Gregory (2012) 689 F.3d 29, 52.) Also, an original combination of otherwise uncopyrightable words and phrases may qualify for copyright. (Softel, Inc. v. Dragon Med. & Scientific Communications (1997) 118 F.3d 955, 964.)
The appellate court found that the district court erred when it ruled Oracle's declaring code uncopyrightable because it uses short phrases. The appellate cCourt cited Atari Games Corp. v. Nintendo of America, Inc. in finding that Oracle "exercised creativity in the selection and arrangement" of the method declarations in the Java APIs, which qualifies the declarations for copyright protection. (Atari Games Corp. v. Nintendo of Am., Inc. (1990) 897 F.2d 1572, 1575.) In addition, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101 and 103, supra, define copyrightable "compilations" as "selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship." (Oracle America, Inc. v. Google Inc., supra, 750 F.3d 1339 at 1363.) 6. Scenes a faire doctrine |