On 4/2/07, Seth Finkelstein sethf@sethf.com wrote:
"A "compilation" is a work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship."
The particular question was quite interesting from this point of view: 1) TV show randomly presents a different fact each episode 2) TV show never explicitly publishes the list of facts. 3) A third party collects them (mechanically) and publishes it.
Who owns copyright over that list? Is the list "objective", because it was created by slavishly watching the episodes and simply noting the random fact each time, or is it "subjective" because the items in it were creatively invented by the show's producers?
It must depend on what "preexisting materials" means. I can't see that the list would satisfy the rest of that definition of selection, coordination etc.
Steve