joegratz.net

In probably the best-written copyright opinion so far this year, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday, in Meshwerks v. Toyota, that slavish digital modeling is not copyrightable. It’s a really smart opinion, drawing a parallel between the way courts in the 1800s dealt with the new technology of photography to the problem of how courts should deal with the new technology of 3D modeling. The court takes pains to note that some digital modeling would be copyrightable–but not exact copies of existing objects created by someone else, because “the unequivocal lesson from Feist is that works are not copyrightable to the extent they do not involve any expression apart from the raw facts in the world.” (Also, don’t miss the amusing Oscar Wilde anecdote in footnote 6.)

Bravo, Judge Gorusch.