simply too general to be protectable.” See Zambito v. Paramount Pictures Corp., 613 F. Supp. 1107, 1112 (E.D.N.Y 1985).
While scènes à faire cannot be registered by themselves, a work of authorship that contains standard expressions or stock characters, settings, or events may be registered provided that the work as a whole contains a sufficient amount of original expression.
313.4(J) Familiar Symbols and Designs
Familiar symbols and designs are not copyrightable and cannot be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, either in two-dimensional or three-dimensional form. 37 C.F.R. § 202.1(a). Likewise, the Office cannot register a work consisting of a simple combination of a few familiar symbols or designs with minor linear or spatial variations, either in two-dimensional or three-dimensional form. Examples of familiar symbols and designs include, without limitation:
- Letters.
- Punctuation.
- Symbols typically found on a keyboard, such as asterisks, ampersands, and the like.
- Abbreviations.
- Musical notes and symbols.
- Numbers.
- Mathematical symbols.
- Currency symbols.
- Arrows and other directional or navigational symbols.
- Common representational symbols, such as a spade, club, heart, diamond, star, yin yang, fleur de lys, or the like.
- Common patterns, such as standard chevron, polka dot, checkerboard, or houndstooth designs.
- Well-known and commonly used symbols that contain a de minimis amount of expression or that are in the public domain, such as the peace symbol, gender symbols (♀ ♂), the symbols for “play, pause, stop, forward, back,” simple emoticons such as the typical smiley face (☺), or the like.
- Standard industry designs, such as the caduceus, the barber pole, food labeling symbols, hazard warning symbols, or the like.
- Familiar religious symbols such as crosses, stars, crescents, and the like.
