Page:Compendium of US Copyright Office Practices (1973).pdf/68

2.8.3

Registration requirements(cont'd)

I.

Copyrightable subject-matter(cont'd)

a.

Pictorial or graphic materialcont'd)

original pictorial or graphic material which embodies creative authorship in its pattern, form, shape, or configura­tion. Creative authorship may be expressed in the linear contours of a drawing, the brush marks or strokes characteristic of a painting, the assemblage of diverse fragments compris­ing a collage, the arrangement and juxtaposition of pieces of colored stone in a mosaic portrait, or the pattern of an abstract design executed in marquetry. Visual representation is always basic, regardless of the form in which a work is presented.

1.

Minimal standards. A certain minimal amount of original creative author­ship is essential for registration in Class G or in any other class. Copy­right ability depends upon the presence of creative expression in a work, and not upon aesthetic merit, commercial appeal, or symbolic value. Thus, reg­istration cannot be based upon the simplicity of standard ornamentation such as chevron stripes, the attract­iveness of a conventional fleur-de­ lys design, or the religious signifi­cance of a Greek cross. Similarly, it is not possible to copyright com­mon geometric figures or shapes such as the hexagon or the ellipse, a standard symbol such as an arrow or

[1973]