Practice question
A publisher owns copyright in the typographical arrangement of its edition of a public-domain poem. A rival independently types the same public-domain words in a different original layout. The publisher claims Section 174 gives it exclusive ownership of the poem's words. Resolve.
- Section 174 protects the edition's typographical arrangement, not renewed ownership of the public-domain text.
- The publisher automatically revives copyright in every public-domain word.
- Any independent layout must be transferred to the first publisher.
- All published poetry becomes a patented invention.
- The publisher owns the language itself for ten years.
Legal references
- RA 8293, Intellectual Property Code, Sections 171-179, 184-185 and 193-197: https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1997/ra_8293_1997.html
- RA 10372, Sections 4, 8-12, 16-17, copyright amendments: https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2013/ra_10372_2013.html
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