Fourth Circuit affirms refusal of copyright registration: insufficient creativity
The Fourth Circuit yesterday affirmed the denial of copyright registration to an individual who had adapted United States Census maps for use on his website. The only changes to the maps were the addition of colors, changing the typeface of the state abbreviations, and a change in layout for some of the state indications. The court affirmed the Copyright Office's determination that the adapted maps were not copyrightable. They were derivative works of the U.S. Census maps, and therefore only the added or changed portions were subject to copyright protection. However, the modifications were entirely "uncopyrightable elements such as a change of layout, format, size, spacing, or coloring," and so the refusal to register was affirmed.
More details of Darden v. Peters after the jump.
