Requirements to Claim Copyright: Minimal Creativity

At least minimal creativity is required.

Hard work alone is not enough to gain copyright protection.

Examples:

• A list of parts for a child's toy is probably not subject to copyright.
  • A sheet of instructions for assembling a toy from its parts may be subject to copyright.

• A complete telephone white pages is not subject to copyright.
  • A categorized yellow pages directory may be subject to copyright.
  • A web-site that provides the means for searching a white pages database may be subject to copyright.

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Copyright © April, 1997, by Carol Scheftic (based on original work at The Geometry Center and used with permission). All rights reserved.
Please send comments on this page, or requests for permission to re-use material from this page, to: scheftic@geom.umn.edu