KAY BERRY, INC. Appellant v. TAYLOR GIFTS, INC.; BANDWAGON, INC., 421 F.3d 199

Summary

Appellant applied for a copyright registration for its entire line of sculptures, including the one at issue. The district court held that the works were not sufficiently related to each other to qualify for registration as a group of works under 17 U.S.C.S. § 408(c)(1). The appellate court disagreed. Regardless of whether the sculptures were sufficiently related, as they were included in a single unit of publication and the copyright claimant was the same, they could be registered under the single work registration regulation, 37 C.F.R. § 202.3(b)(3). Selecting an inspirational poem from the public domain, adapting it to make it visually and rhythmically appealing, and casting it on its own sculptural work was a sufficient quantum of creativity to qualify for copyright protection. The protectible originality of the allegedly infringed work was to be found, if at all, solely in its appearance. It did not embody an expression that was inseparable from an underlying idea. Appellant was ...