Mehdi Zahedi; shirin sharifzadeh
Abstract
Freedom of expression includes the freedom to express, access and dissemination of information, whereas copyright, by protecting the original works of authorship, restricts use, access and dissemination of the protected works. When an expression is protected by copyright, freedom of expression or press ...
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Freedom of expression includes the freedom to express, access and dissemination of information, whereas copyright, by protecting the original works of authorship, restricts use, access and dissemination of the protected works. When an expression is protected by copyright, freedom of expression or press can be restricted. Some are of the opinion that these two rights are, in fact, not in conflict with each other but rather derived from the same social values seeking to protect each right. Common goals such as flow of cultural ideas or promoting creativity in the society causes interaction and synergy between the two. Idea-expression dichotomy by determining the scope of the copyright and distinguishing what belongs to the public domain, which is not a protected, will ensure a constructive interaction between the two and protects the public interest and dose not restrict freedom of expression. This article will discuss how to strike a balance between the public interest in freedom of expression and the private interests of the copyright owners without undermining the other. Idea-expression dichotomy as a counterbalance between these two rights is the cornerstone of this article.
shirin sharifzadeh
Abstract
A “compilation” is a work formed by the collection and assembling of pre-existing materials or of data that are selected, coordinated or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship, such as periodical issue, anthology, encyclopedia, ...
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A “compilation” is a work formed by the collection and assembling of pre-existing materials or of data that are selected, coordinated or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship, such as periodical issue, anthology, encyclopedia, telephone directory, etc. Since the prerequisite for protection of copyright works is originality, this question arises whether these works are original and may also be copyrightable. The meaning of originality is not defined in the majority of national copyright legislations. Instead, the interpretation of what is to be original has been left mainly to the courts. Courts have different opinions regarding the definition of originality and its conditions. However, the Supreme Court of United States in the Feist case put an end to this division. This article attempts to study the notion of originality of compilations works by analyzing the Feist case in order to answer whether compilation works have any originality and if the answer is yes, what is its scope.