content that lacks a sufficient amount of original authorship. Examples of uncopyrightable material include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Ideas, such as plans for future websites.
• Functional design elements.
• Domain names and hypertext links.
• The layout, format, or "look and feel" of a website.
• Common, unoriginal material, such as names, icons, or familiar symbols. See 17 U.S.C. § 102(b); see also 37 C.F.R. § 202.1.
This type of material is discussed in Sections 1007.1 throughl007.4. For a general discussion of uncopyrightable material, see Chapter 300, Section 313.
1007.1 Ideas for Websites, Website Operation, or Website Structure
Section 102(b) of the Copyright Act specifically states that copyright protection for an original work of authorship does not "extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery... regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work." 17 U.S.C. § 102(b). For example, copyright protection does not extend to the ideas for a website, nor does it extend to any ideas or concepts for the visual or operational design of a website, its user interface, or the hyperlink structure of the site.
1007.2 Domain Names and URLs
A domain name or URL is the address for a website or webpage. It is the online equivalent of a mailing address or phone number. These elements are facts that are not eligible for copyright protection. See Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co., 499 U.S. 340, 347 (1991) ("No one may claim originality as to facts . . . because facts do not owe their origin to an act of authorship."). In addition, domain names and URLs are not protectable because they are merely words or short phrases that lack the sufficient amount of creativity required for copyright protection. See 37 C.F.R. § 202.1(a).
1007.3 Hypertext Links
A hypertext link is generally a URL or bookmark within a website. These elements are not copyrightable, because they are essentially addresses or facts and because they are simply a method for accessing content within a website.
Although a URL or bookmark in and of itself would not be protected by copyright, the creative text or graphic that embodies a hypertext link may be copyrightable if that text or graphic contains a sufficient amount of original authorship.
Chapter 1000 : 15
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