Copyright question....

[FlyingRon]

Unlike patents where there are penalties for claiming that you have a patent (or one is pending) when it is not, you're free to claim copyright even if you have no rights to do so. It's just very hard to actually assert those rights.

 

[AdoptADog]

Binky Clips?

Unlike patents where there are penalties for claiming that you have a patent (or one is pending) when it is not, you're free to claim copyright even if you have no rights to do so. It's just very hard to actually assert those rights.

Would the Binky Clips be considered utilitarian, like clothing, bags, cars, etc and not protectable? The horses aren't controlled by license, multiple vendors are selling them to multiple manufacturers for use in other goods.

 

[quincy]

Would the Binky Clips be considered utilitarian, like clothing, bags, cars, etc and not protectable? The horses aren't controlled by license, multiple vendors are selling them to multiple manufacturers for use in other goods.

The binky clips could potentially have patent protection but it would be unlikely for the clips to be copyright protected.

The horse probably has copyright protection. The creator of the original horse can grant rights to use the horse to anyone, with or without a written license, and still retain all rights to the horse. It is up to the copyright holder what they want to do with their work and how it can be used by others.

The copyright holder in this case apparently did not care what people did with the horse once it was purchased. The only way I can see someone claiming copyrights in the horse binky is if the combination of horse with clip created an original and creative work on its own - a derivative work or a transformative work subject to protection (which, from what has been described, seems unlikely).

FlyingRon's earlier post questions the concern over this. If items have not been pulled and no legal action has been threatened, I would think that lenoreroundy could simply verify with the copyright holder that she continues to have rights to use the horse and then continue to sell the binky clips as she had been doing previously. Of course, if a notice arrives from an attorney threatening legal action, that would take an additional look into the matter - and that additional look would have to be done personally by an attorney lenoreroundy finds in her area.