Copyright, part one: the definition of protection for creative works

Intellectual property is a work or invention that is the result of creativity over which one has rights and can protect. A copyright is a legal way to protect writing, for example, whether it is published or not. The United States Copyright Office designates copyright protection for “… original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or subsequently developed …” (see 17 USC § 102 (a )). Basically, the protection consists of three parts: (1) be a work of authorship, which we explore in more detail in a separate article, (2) be original, and (3) be fixed in a tangible medium of expression.

Original. A work must be original by the author to be protected. Furthermore, the term “original”, as used in copyright law, simply means (i) that the work was created independently by the author and (ii) that it possesses at least a minimal degree of creativity. Feist Publications v. Rural telephone service is an illustrative case from 1991 in which the mere compilation of the Rural Telephone Service directory did not merit copyright protection. The proof is that an idea is more than “so mechanical or routine that it requires no creativity whatsoever,” that the idea contains some “creative spark.” The court ruled that the Rural Telephone Service directory was nothing more than an alphabetical listing of all subscribers to its service, meaning that there was no creative expression involved.

Repaired. The fixed shape does not have to be directly perceptible as long as it can communicate with the help of a machine or other device. For example, a story that is printed on paper meets this requirement, while a live performance of the same story that is not being recorded simultaneously does not. Another example exists in a song. A song is considered fixed when it is written on paper, which is the medium in which the song can be perceived, reproduced, and communicated. Furthermore, as long as the work can be perceived by a machine, such as when the author records it on a cassette tape or compact disc, the song is fixed. Similarly, a computer program fixes itself when it is stored on a computer’s hard drive. Additionally, although bits and bytes are only temporarily fixed through a computer’s random access memory (RAM), many courts have held that a computer program that exists in RAM is fixed for the purpose of protecting the rights of users. Author.