[WikiEN-l] [bhorrocks at npg.org.uk: National Portrait Gallery

Wed Aug 4 05:37:55 UTC 2004

To quoth the Copyright FAQ ([[Wikipedia:Copyright FAQ]]) that Jamesday and I
prepared:

Taking a work in the public domain and modifying it creates a new copyright
on the work. For instance, Orson Scott Card's Homecoming series is a
re-telling of the book of Mormon. The books in that series are copyrighted.

However, the new work must be different from the original in order for a new
copyright to apply, as the court ruled in Bridgeman Art Library v Corel
Corporation (http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/36_FSupp2d_191.htm).
The Bridgeman Art Library had made photographic reproductions of famous
works of art from museums around the world (works already in the public
domain.) The Corel Corporation used those reproductions for an educational
CD-ROM without paying Bridgeman. Bridgeman claimed copyright infringement.
The Court ruled that reproductions of images in the public domain are not
protected by copyright if the reproductions are slavish or lacking in
originality. In their opinion, the Court noted: "There is little doubt that
many photographs, probably the overwhelming majority, reflect at least the
modest amount of originality required for copyright protection.... But
'slavish copying', although doubtless requiring technical skill and effort,
does not qualify." [1]

--Mark