On 1/23/07, Jay R. Ashworth <jra(a)baylink.com> wrote:
And, incidentally, you cannot *copyright* a logo. You
trademark them.
That's not true. Logos, in general, are both copyrighted and
trademarked. Here's the first link I found:
http://www.intellectual-property.gov.uk/faq/copyright/logos.htm
Also, I happen to know that both the WMF and Mozilla explicitly claim
copyright (as well as trademark) on their logos, in case that
interests you.
If, however, I took a picture of you standing next to
your framed
drawing hanging on your wall, there would most certainly be
copyrightable expression in my photograph that was not solely
derivative of your copyright in your work.
"Solely the derivative"? There's nothing "solely" in derivatives.
By
their very nature, they're shared copyrights: he owns the base work
(the drawing), you own the derivative aspects (the angle, positioning,
etc.). Both of you have exclusive rights to the resulting derivative
work (i.e., either can "exclude" the other from distributing it),
barring things like fair use and de minimis.
I assert that a copyright in the *program code* to
Microsoft Word does
*not* constitute a copyright in *the millions of different possible
visual displays that program could produce* -- especially when you
consider that those displays can differ markedly based on the choices
of system fonts and color themes chosen by the computer's operator.
After reviewing a summary of Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer%2C_Inc._v._Microsoft_Corp.>,
I would agree with this statement, but not your conclusion. The
*program code* has little, if anything, to do with it. The issue is
mainly the *icons*, and other specific display elements.
For instance, consider
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Microsoft_Office_Word_2007.png>.
In the upper left, there's some funky four-colored icon of interlocked
squares. Copyrighted. Next to it there's a drawing of a floppy disk.
Copyrighted (although the concept isn't, the exact image is). Below
it there's a clipboard, over to the right there are two interlocked
A's. All copyrighted images.
Similarly, it seems not unlikely that the precise choices of font,
positioning, and decoration for the various menus and so on are
copyrighted. A general "look and feel" is not, and neither is the
positioning of the elements themselves (which is basically
utilitarian), but the precise choice of colors and fonts is definitely
a creative exercise that can easily make the difference between visual
attractiveness and unattractiveness.