Circuit split · intellectual property law
Whether the copyright merger doctrine—under which expression inseparable from an idea is unprotectable—operates as a limit on copyrightability or instead as an affirmative defense to infringement
1 federal appellate case on this question, each acknowledging the disagreement in its own words.
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals · October 26, 2004
“However, there is one aspect of merger my colleagues do not decide that I believe is important to *557 this case: a Circuit split regarding the law of merger.” — Acknowledges a circuit split
Empirical analysis of this case →
The other side of the split
Decisions the acknowledging court(s) named as the opposing or joined side, quoted in the acknowledging opinion's own words.
- On the other side · 2nd Cir.Kregos v. Associated Press937 F.2d 700
- On the other side · 9th Cir.Ets-Hokin v. Skyy Spirits, Inc.225 F.3d 1068
- On the other side · 5th Cir.Mason v. Montgomery Data, Inc.967 F.2d 135
What the split turns on
- Statutes:
- 17 U.S.C. 1201(a)(1)(A) ·
- 17 U.S.C. 1201(b)(A)
- Doctrines & tests:
- merger doctrine ·
- scènes à faire
Cases are grouped by the legal question they announce a split on, classified from the court's own acknowledgment sentence. Verified acknowledgments only. Counter-side decisions are extracted from the acknowledging opinions' own text and linked only when the citation resolves in this corpus. See all circuit splits.