Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Law
Copyright--Protection Denied To Verbal Expression Of Simple Subject Matter--Morrissey V. Proctor & Gamble Co., Michigan Law Review
Copyright--Protection Denied To Verbal Expression Of Simple Subject Matter--Morrissey V. Proctor & Gamble Co., Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
The plaintiff copyrighted a series of rules for a sales promotional contest in which contestants' social security numbers were used as the basis for a "sweepstakes." In 1959 he submitted the contest rules and game suggestions to several companies, including the defendant Procter & Gamble Company, to see if they were interested in using his scheme. The defendant failed to accept or even to respond to the plaintiff's solicitation. However, three years later Procter & Gamble initiated a "Shopping Fling Sweepstakes" which utilized contestants' social security numbers as the basic element of the game. Plaintiff brought an action for copyright …
Copyright Pre-Emption And Character Values: The Paladin Case As An Extension Of Sears And Compco, Michigan Law Review
Copyright Pre-Emption And Character Values: The Paladin Case As An Extension Of Sears And Compco, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Much of the confusion over copyright pre-emption that has followed in the wake of Sears and Compco may be due to a fundamental difference between the present patent and copyright acts. Unlike the patent law that was at issue in Sears and Compco, the federal Copyright Act provides that the states may in limited circumstances protect literary property through the doctrine of common-law copyright. Under section 2 of the Act, a state may prevent copying of a work so long as it remains "unpublished." An alternative ground of decision in Paladin was that, regardless of preemption under Sears and …