Comments on: Boilerplate is Copyrightable

By: Mike Madison

Mike Madison — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 11:58:04 +0000

Chris,
Not to get all post-modern and everything, but is “history” (or fiction) what an author says it is, or what the public says it is? Surely the reaction of the reading public is relevant to the scope of an author’s rights.
Even conceding that Boilerplate is copyrightable subject matter, I’d grant Guinan at best a thin copyright: protection from literal appropriation of the image of this particular character. And even then . . .
In the current New Yorker, there’s a cartoon that shows a Maurice Sendak “Where the Wild Things Are” character in bed with a woman. The cutline reads, “Let’s face it — this was never going to work. You’re a beloved children’s book character, and I’m a lesbian.” Is Sendak’s character copyrighted? Absolutely. Is this copyright infringement? Absolutely not.
Mike

By: Christopher Arnold

Christopher Arnold — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 20:44:33 +0000

Of fact and fiction.

The court in A. A. Hoehling v. Universal City Studios (618 F.2d 972 (2d Cir. 1980) articulated the longstanding notion that the scope of a copyright granted in a historical account encompasses only the author’s original expression of particular facts and theories which are in the public domain.

In other words, historical accounts, like other arrangements of information found in the public domain (e.g. phone numbers, etc.) are granted razor thin copyright protection.

Specifically, this case was concerned with various accounts and theories surrounding the destruction of the Hindenburg.

Unless there exists some incredible evidence to the contrary (e.g. a smoking gun something along the lines of backstage footage of Neil Armstrong walking off of the moon and into his dressing room in Studio 51), it is safe to assume that the Hindiburg was, in fact, destroyed.

Therein lies the difference.

Because Boilerplate never actually existed and was merely a fictional figment of the imagination of its author, he is as “copyrightable” as Huck Finn.

Further, if the rational forwarded above is correct, the whole genre of historical fiction would be deemed uncopyrightable subject matter.

In summary, just because the author portrays a person or an event as “history” doesn’t make it history.

By: madisonian.net » This Is Boilerplate

madisonian.net » This Is Boilerplate — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 17:29:52 +0000

[...] Mike’s take on the flap between comedian-turned-novelist Chris Elliott and graphic novelist Paul Guinan confuses me a bit, and interests me a lot. [...]