[Web4lib] Disney films based on public domain fairy tales are not derivative works

[Pat Rapp]

Interesting that someone is considering this, but I can't see how a storyline can be patentable -- that's the whole reason behind copyright, isn't it?

In order for something to be patentable, it must meet the following three criteria:
1. It must be novel 
2. It must be non-obvious to someone well-versed in the field
3. It must be useful

A storyline can be novel (in fact, it probably should be if you want to sell it!) and it might be able to be non-obvious. But as far as usefulness, a story is just a story, not a useful tool or a new process.




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Pat Rapp
Webmaster
Fairport Public Library
1 Fairport Village Landing | Fairport, NY 14450 | 585-223-9091 ext 28

I am reading an aBook (analog). It has these things called "pages." - Alan Levine

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-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Brian Gray
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 5:05 PM
To: Norma Jean Hewlett
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Disney films based on public domain fairy tales are not derivative works

Thank you Jean for the nice summary from your colleague.

Another spin on the discussion is there are those trying to patent story
lines though:
http://www.plotpatents.com/legal_analysis.htm

I do not know if a court or USPTO has ruled against these types of actions.

Brian Gray
mindspiral at gmail.com
bcg8 at case.edu


On Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 4:57 PM, Norma Jean Hewlett <hewlett at usfca.edu>wrote:

> I asked my friend Eli Edwards, who is both a librarian and a lawyer. Here
> is
> what she told me:
>
> 1. It's not possible to copyright a public domain fairy tale. For example,
> you can't copyright the basic story of Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs,
> including parts of it such as her meeting seven dwarfs.
>
> 2. It IS possible to copyright any original material that your retelling
> adds to the tale. For example, while you can't copyright generic dwarfs,
> you
> definitely can copyright the characters of Dopey, Doc, Sneezey, etc.
>
> 3. You can also copyright other original features of the work, such as the
> musical score.
>
> 4. Therefore, Disney has no problem establishing copyright on their version
> of Snow White.
>
> Jean Hewlett
> University of San Francisco
>
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