[Ohiodig] Preprinted Form Copyright

[Noah Stegman Rechtin]

Dear All,

Maria Scheid of Ohio State University sent me an excellent reply complete
with legal citations. In case anyone else has the same question, the
relevant portion is reproduced below:

First, blank forms that are designed for simply recording information, do
> not receive copyright protection (see 17 U.S.C. § 102(b)
> <https://copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#102>) and C.F.R. § 202.1(c)
> <https://www.copyright.gov/title37/202/37cfr202-1.html>) because they
> don’t possess the minimum level of originality needed for protection. If
> the blank forms include literary or pictorial works that do capture
> original expression (text descriptions, sketches, etc.), those could be
> protected by copyright. As could any creative expression added by the pilot
> (or other user of the form). And second, a work published with a valid
> copyright notice in 1942 would still need to be timely renewed with the
> U.S. Copyright Office to receive the full term of protection of 95 years.
>

She also pointed to the Supreme Court case *Baker v. Selden
<https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/101/99/>* in 1879 where the
copyright of blank forms was addressed.

Also, I forgot to add in my initial post that the terms and conditions on
our museum's deed of gift states that "all intellectual property rights
associated with [the object]" are transferred upon donation, so any
creative expression by the pilot isn't a concern for sake of this
discussion.

Sincerely,
Noah Stegman Rechtin
*Tri-State Warbird Museum <http://tri-statewarbirdmuseum.org/>*
*Collections Manager & Museum Attendant*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.library.ohio.gov/pipermail/ohiodig/attachments/20230112/b114652b/attachment.htm>