Page:Compendium of US Copyright Office Practices (1973).pdf/70

2.8.3

Registration requirements(cont'd)

I.

Copyrightable subject-matter(cont'd)

a.

Pictorial or graphical materialcont'd)

1

Minimal standards(cont'd)

Examples(cont'd)

 

(b)

An applicant for registration has developed a novelty item consisting of transparently clear plastic sheets bonded together around their periphery, and having a small amount of colored liquid petroleum in the air space between the laminated sheets. Any slight pressure upon the external surface results in the formation of undulating patterns and shapes, no two of which are ever identical. Practice: Since the specific outlines and contours of the patterns and shapes formed by the liquid petroleum do not owe their origin to a human agent, it is not possible to claim copyright in such patterns and shapes. The novelty of the idea embodied in the work and the effects achieved by the action of the petroleum under pressure likewise do not warrant registration.

b.

Class G is appro­priate for the registration of original sculpture which embodies creative authorship expressed in three-dimensional form

[1973]