Attorney Steve® Copyright Essentials - Protecting your book, drawings, sculptural and movie characters - Call us at (877) 276-5084 if you are dealing with a copyright issue involving registration or infringement of a character

Introduction

This is an important blog that discusses the requirements to copyright register a character from your books, movies, videos, sculptures, and other creative Works of authorship.  This is straight from the Copyright office and discusses the things they look for in order to register character copyrights.

Copyright Registration Information - From the Copyright Compendium of Office Practices, Third Edition

313.4(H)

Characters Although the copyright law does not protect the name or the general idea for a character, a work that depicts or describes a particular character may be registered if it contains a sufficient amount of original authorship. A registration for a visual art work, a literary work, or a work of the performing arts that depicts or describes a character covers the expression set forth in the deposit copy(ies), but it does not cover the character per se.

In other words, the copyright in the registered work protects the author's expression of the character, but it does not protect the mere concept of the character. The copyright in the character itself is limited to the artistic rendition of the character in visual form or the literary delineation of the character's specific attributes in textual form. (The trademark law may provide additional protection for the character's name or other attributes if the character is sufficiently distinctive and is used to identify the source of the trademark owner's goods or services.)

804.3(B) Characters A character is a person, animal, or even an inanimate object that is used to portray the content of a dramatic work. The copyright law does not protect the name or the general idea for a character. See, e.g., Klinger v. Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd., 755 F.3d 496, 502-03 (7th Cir. 2014). However, the Office may issue a registration based on the authorship describing, depicting, or embodying a character.

Section 911 - Characters 

The original, visual aspects of a character may be protected by copyright if they are sufficiently original.

This may include the physical attributes of the character, such as facial features and specific body shape, as well as images of clothing and any other visual elements.

The U.S. Copyright Office will register visual art works that depict a character, such as drawings, sculptures, and paintings.

A registration for such works extends to the particular authorship depicted in the deposit material, but does not extend to unfixed characteristics of the character that are not depicted in the deposit.

Nor does it cover the name or the general idea for the character.

Fanciful costumes that depict a character may be considered useful articles for purposes of registration.

Although they portray the appearance of the character, they also may serve the intrinsic useful function of clothing the human body. If so, they are subject to the separability test described in Section 924.3.

As with all clothing, the Office will examine fanciful costumes to determine if they contain two- or three-dimensional design elements that are conceptually separable from the utilitarian aspects of the article, and to determine if those separable elements contain a sufficient amount of creative expression. See generally Registrability of Costume Designs, 56 Fed. Reg. 56,530 (Nov. 5, 1991) (discussing the Office's policy and several federal court decisions on the registrability of costume designs).

When completing an application to register such works, the applicant should use an appropriate term to describe the authorship embodied in the deposit material, such as “2-D artwork” or “photograph.”

Applicants should not refer to or assert claims in “character,” “character concept, idea, or style,” or a character's generalized personality, conduct, temperament, or costume.

If the applicant uses these terms, the registration specialist may register the claim with an annotation, such as: “Regarding authorship information: Registration based on deposited [pictorial, graphic, or sculptural] authorship describing, depicting, or embodying character(s).

Compendium 313.4(H).

If the deposit material contains a well-known or recognizable character, the specialist may ask the applicant to exclude that preexisting material from the claim if the applicant fails to complete the Limitation of Claim portion of the application. 

Examples:

• Charles Crest creates a sketch of a field mouse with a straw hat and a mischievous grin. He intends to use the sketch in an animated film. He files an application that asserts a claim in “two-dimensional artwork” and “character.” The registration specialist may register the claim with an annotation, such as “Regarding authorship information: Registration based on deposited pictorial authorship describing, depicting, or embodying character(s). Compendium 313.4(H).”

• Chris Crow creates a series of drawings featuring a stylized flamingo in several poses and wearing different hats. He files an application to register his drawings under the title “Concept Drawings for  Character Designs” and he asserts a claim in “two-dimensional artwork.” The registration specialist may register the claim and may send the applicant a warning letter noting that the registration covers only the specific sketches included in the deposit.

• Chloe Crown creates a series of drawings depicting several well-known comic book characters. She files an application that asserts a claim in “character redesigns” or “new versions of characters.” The registration specialist may ask Chloe if she has permission to prepare these derivative works and to clarify the derivative authorship that she contributed to the preexisting material.

Contact a Copyright Law Firm

Vondran Legal® is a leading west coast copyright law firm. We handle everything from registration and enforcement to dispute resolution and litigation in the area of copyright, trademark, trade secrets and right of publicity law.  We have offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County, California and Phoenix, Arizona. Call us at (877) 276--5084 or email us through our contact form.