The seminal Supreme Court case on the idea/expression dichotomy in copyright is: Baker v. Selden, 1879. Skynyrd v. Young, 1974. Hamer v. Sidway, 1897. People v. Flint, 1980.

Which of the following can never be copyrighted? Characters. Sculptures. Drawings made only with temporary markings such as pencil. All of these can be copyrighted.

The government can: Never own copyrights. Never buy copyrights. Hold “permanent” copyrights which have indefinite terms. Not obtain copyrights in its original works.

Frank grew up in New York and knows a great deal about the city?s history. When he retired in 1985 he began collecting old photographs of various parts of the city (these were public domain pictures, meaning nobody claimed copyright ownership and anyone could use them). By 1990 he had a large collection of these photographs, which he began pasting in a book along with captions and short stories. One day his snoopy landlord sneaks in to Frank?s apartment and, upon seeing the book, decides to use Frank?s organization and captions to write his own book. The landlord?s book would: Infringe on Frank’s because Frank had copyrights in his compilation. Infringe on Frank’s because Frank had copyrights in his derivative work. Not infringe on Frank’s because the pictures were in the public domain. Not infringe on Frank because picture captions cannot be copyrighted.

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