A few weeks ago I finally got my hands on a USB turntable so I can digitize all that vinyl I still own. (No, I won’t be tossing the vinyl, this is some rare stuff.) Anyway, Here’s what I bought for just $25 with a really good coupon at Half Price Books.
While ripping my first album into Audacity (Bodies and Soul by The Manhattan Transfer if you’re wondering,) I started looking at the box and noticed a lot of fine print on the bottom.
I noticed that a lot of that fine print seemed to be related to copyright so I took a closer look:
That’s right folks. According to VIBETM they are claiming copyright on the shape of the box. Never mind that the images I’m posting here may be violating their copyright I’m calling fair use since I’m using them for criticism. But seriously, it’s a frickin’ box. It’s not even a uniquely shaped box. If Lego can’t get trademark protection for the shape of their bricks, you sure can’t get copyright for the shape for your box.
Michael Sauers is the Director of Logan Library in Logan, UT. Prior to this he was one of the founding staff and Technology Manager for Do Space in Omaha, NE. After earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany's School of Information Science and Policy Michael spent his first 20 years as a librarian training other librarians in technology along with time as a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, a technology consultant, and a bookseller. He has written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and has published 14 books ranging from library technology, blogging, Web design, and an index to a popular horror magazine. In his spare time, he blogs at TravelinLibrarian.info, runs The Collector's Guide to Dean Koontz website at CollectingKoontz.com, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
Unless otherwise stated, all opinions are my own and are not to be considered those of the City of Logan, UT.
View all posts by Michael Sauers
One Reply to “No, you can not copyright a shape!”
Hi,
Thanks for posting this, I passed it on to an online friend who wants to know if a shape can be copyrighted.
Hi,
Thanks for posting this, I passed it on to an online friend who wants to know if a shape can be copyrighted.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Morris