[Python-Dev] Copyright notices in modules

[M.-A. Lemburg]

On 2009-01-20 16:54, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
> M.-A. Lemburg writes:
>  > On 2009-01-20 11:02, Michael Foord wrote:
> 
>  > > Mere collections of facts are not copyrightable as they are not
>  > > creative (the basis of copyright)
> 
> That's incorrect in the U.S.; what is copyrightable is an *original
> work of expression fixed in some medium*.  "Original" is closely
> related to "creative", but it's not the same.  The emphasis is on
> novelty, not on the intellectual power involved.  So, for example, you
> can copyright a set of paint splashes on paper, as long as they're
> *new* paint splashes.
> 
> The real issue here, however, is "expression".  What's important is
> whether there are different ways to say it.  So you can indeed
> copyright the phone book or a dictionary, which *does* protect such
> things as unusual use of typefaces or color to aid understanding.
> What you can't do is prevent someone from publishing another phone
> book or dictionary based on the same facts, and since "put it in
> alphabetical order" hasn't been an original form of expression since
> Aristotle or so, they can alphabetize their phone book or dictionary,
> and it is going to look a lot like yours.

The above argument is what makes copyright so complicated. Computer
software has been given the same status as a piece of literary work,
so all conventions for such works apply.

However, this doesn't necessarily mean that all computer software
is copyrightable per-se. The key problem is defining the threshold of
originality needed for a work to become copyrightable at all and
that's where different jurisdictions use different definitions or
guidelines based on case law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threshold_of_originality

E.g. in Germany it is common not to grant copyright on logos that
are used as trademarks. OTOH, use of a logo in the trademark
sense automatically makes it a trademark (even without registration).

> On the other hand, ABCs are not a "mere collection of facts". They are
> subject to various forms of organization (top down, bottom up,
> alphabetical order, etc), and that organization will in general be
> copyrightable.  Also, unless your ABCs are all independent of each
> other, you will be making choices about when to derive and when to
> define from scratch.  That aspect of organization is expressive, and
> once written down ("fixed in a medium") it is copyrightable.
> 
>  > > I recommend his book by the way - I'm about half way through so far and
>  > > it is highly readable
> 
> Larry Rosen's book is also good.

-- 
Marc-Andre Lemburg
eGenix.com

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