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Copyright And Its Categories Of Original Works, Justine Pila

Justine Pila

In this paper the categories of original (literary, dramatic, musical and artistic (LDMA)) works in which copyright subsists are considered, and an argument made that the Legislature's division of protected works into categories is appropriate given the psychology of art appreciation, and the fact that in order to perceive a work qua work one must perceive it in relation to a category of work. Nonetheless, an argument is also made that the statutory definitions of LDMA works suffer from the defects of formalist theory. Those defects are outlined, and an alternative theory of works proposed, drawing on the work of …