Assignment #12

I. Computer-Generated or Assisted Works - Copyright Protected and If So Who's the Copyright Holder?

Here our attention shifts from software to various forms of computer output that resemble traditional literary, musical, or visual art works. What is different about these works is the degree to which the computer and software are responsible for their creation.

Let us consider both an extreme and a milder version of the following three "artistic" hardware/software systems:

• a poem generator
• a music composer
• an abstract art designer

In the extreme version the user makes two or three choices appropriate to the type of work (style, length, color, etc.) and clicks on the "do it" button and out comes a work (fixed "in a tangible medium of expression"). In the milder version the user makes more choices and has (exercises?) an opportunity to edit the computer-generated work.

Let us also consider:

• a computer system that generates useful graphic output from data inputs: weather maps from satellite data or recorded video images from cameras that systematically scan an area but then respond to and track motion
• software that generates text abstracts of long documents (e.g., judicial opinions)

The inter-twined issues are:

• 1) Is there a point as one moves from basic word-processing, music, and graphics software to these "authorial machines" at which copyright protection ceases because of the large role the computer plays in the creation process?
• 2) If copyright protection is available for the work, who is the author?

II. Readings

• Cases:
• I know of none closely enough on point to assign. If you are not familiar with some of the cases from other settings cited in the following two articles you may want to skim some of them.
• Commentary:
• Arthur R. Miller, Copyright Protection for Computer Programs, Databases, and Computer-Generated Works: Is Anything New Since CONTU?, 106 Harv. L. Rev. 977 (1993) (Part III The Copyrightability and Authorship of Computer-Generated Works) LEXIS | WESTLAW
• Pamela Samuelson, Allocating Ownership Rights in Computer Generated Works, 47 U Pitt. L. Rev. 1185 (1986) LEXIS | WESTLAW

III. How We'll Proceed

I'll begin discussion on this assignment in the Webboard conference on February 10. Our video conference class concluding this set of issues will be Tuesday, Feb. 16.