[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: That case and that book

[Lee Kaiwen]

> Nora:

> Actually, I don't think it is. I've read so much about this whole
> thing that I can no longer remember anything to cite, but copyright
> law does, IIRC, protect these kinds of 'fictional facts'

Carol responds:
> Ideas aren't copyrightable. Can you find a link to a discussion of
> "fictional facts" that might be relevant?

CJ now:

She referred to the Seinfeld trivia case. There is a good discussion of 
it at Wikipedia. It appears that the judge ruled, in response to an 
argument of the defense, that fictional facts *can be* (though not 
necessarily *are*) held copyrightable.

However, I don't think that decision sets any precedent for at least two 
reasons:

1. It was not a piece of judicial reasoning in its own right, but simply 
a response to a defense claim.

2. It is not germaine to the main reasoning of the decision.

--CJ