Copyrighting the Works of Others
So I came across a collection of quotes (supposedly) from Albert Einstein today. They were mostly the same sorts of quotes you always see from him (although they left out my personal favorite, “Never memorize what you can look up.”).
No, what interested me was the notice at the bottom of the list: “Copyright: Kevin Harris 1995 (may be freely distributed with this acknowledgement)”
Exactly what did Kevin Harris do that entitles him to a copyright of this collection? Copyright entitles an author/musician/artist to protection from another copying his work; Mr. Harris–whomever he is–did nothing but copy the sayings of Albert Einstein; there was not a single one of Mr. Harris’s original thoughts in this list.
At least, there shouldn’t have been; if he did include his own thoughts, he masqueraded them as the thoughts of Albert Einstein–a far more serious crime than a mere abused copyright.
August 12th, 2005 at 12:30 pm
What he owns the copyright on is the compilation, not the quotes themselves. In other words, you could take individual quotes and do whatever you want. However, you couldn’t copy the entire list verbatim at republish it somewhere else as your compilation. It’s somewhat shakey since (as unlikely as it is) you could theoretically have found the exact same quotes and arranged them in that order yourself; however, it does have some legal basis.
August 12th, 2005 at 12:32 pm
Oh, sorry. I forgot the standard disclaimer:
“I am not a attorney, so whatever statements I provide may not be construed as legal advice. Please consult your own attorney if you have questions.”