Authorities
Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service Co.
Feist (1991): copyright requires originality; facts and effort alone are not enough.
Citation: Feist Publ'ns, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., 499 U.S. 340 (1991)
Type: Case
Jurisdiction: Federal
Issuing body: Supreme Court of the United States
Status: Decided
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Parties: Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co.
Proceeding: court decision
Copyright protects only expression, and originality requires independent creation plus a minimal degree of creativity; effort alone is not enough. Facts, data, and short phrases are not protected, so scraping facts and data generally does not infringe, though contract and computer-access claims may still apply.
Related guides.
- Ownership, Registration, and the Right to Sue
- Defenses in Copyright Cases
- Software, Website, and Digital Content Disputes
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