
The Supreme Court takes on costume copyright - bgun
https://www.publicknowledge.org/news-blog/blogs/cosplay-goes-to-the-supreme-court/
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bgun
_1\. Under the Copyright Act, a “useful article” such as a chair, a dress, or
a uniform cannot be copyrighted. 17 U.S.C. § 101. The article’s component
features or elements cannot be copyrighted either, unless capable of being
“identified separately from, and ... existing independently of, the
utilitarian aspects of the article.” Id. Circuit courts, the Copyright Office,
and academics have proposed at least nine different tests to analyze this
separability. The Sixth Circuit rejected them all and created a tenth. The
first question is:_

 _What is the appropriate test to determine when a feature of a useful article
is protectable under § 101 of the Copyright Act?_

[http://howappealing.abovethelaw.com/13755846_1-StarAthletica...](http://howappealing.abovethelaw.com/13755846_1-StarAthletica-
cert.petition%28as-filed%29.PDF)

