Klarinet Archive - Posting 000932.txt from 1999/11

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Yet Even More Copyright Pointyheadedness
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 22:55:24 -0500

Last one . . . at least from me. You people are starting to feel like
clients. I like musicians better ;-)

Dee noted:

<<<It is my understanding that *data* cannot be copyrighted, only what is
said about the data and how it is said. Otherwise we couldn't even give a
composer's birth and death dates without getting the permission of the
copyright holder of the book in which we read it. If you did that report
correctly, you would have gotten facts from the enclopedia, almanac or
whatever but would have written the report yourself based on the facts.>>>

This is the key distinction between the Feist decision (no copyright to
phone numbers) and music. Dee is correct in that data isn't protected by
copyright under U.S. law. (Be very, very careful with generalizations like
this, however -- there are may jurisdictions, particularly in Europe, that
explicitly recognize database rights!) It's not the copying of the data
that causes the copyright problem, but instead the copying of the author's
literary expression that leads to the youngster's "infringement."

Music is not data -- although music that is in the public domain is also not
protected by copyright (hence my analogy in the earlier post). It is
ALWAYS an article subject to the author's (or transferee's) copyright
rights, until over time is slips into the public domain. This is why an
"arrangement" of a copyrighted work is an infringement if not properly
licensed -- the derivative work has the status of a copy, even though the
notes are different -- unless your arrangement is of a public domain work.

As a legal matter, computer software code isn't data, but a work of
authorship -- like music -- which explains why my days are so gosh darn
interesting.

Enough of this. My brain is full -- I am going home to practice.

kjf

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