{"id":3521,"date":"2019-09-05T15:17:54","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T03:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/"},"modified":"2019-09-05T15:17:54","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T03:17:54","slug":"copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Copyright \u201cHeresy\u201d \u2013 when original is not original for Copyright Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6>The Court of Appeal recently released its well-reasoned and articulate decision in\u00a0<em>Zhang v Sealegs International Limited<\/em>\u00a0[2019] NZCA 389 (\u201c<em>Sealegs<\/em>\u201d), detailing the difference between \u2018original\u2019 in the ordinary sense of the word and \u2018original\u2019 in copyright law.<\/h6>\n<p>The decision is an important one for businesses, and lawyers, because it demonstrates that merely because an arrangement of components or features is new or innovative does not mean it is original under copyright law. As the lawyer for Orion Marine put it, confusing novelty of arrangement with originality commits \u201ccopyright heresy\u201d.<sup>[1]<\/sup><\/p>\n<h6>There\u2019s original, and then there\u2019s original<\/h6>\n<p>Originality in its copyright sense is a very distinct thing from how originality is used in everyday speech \u2013 it\u2019s a technical term based on how much labour, skill, and judgment went in to the creation of the copyright work such as a drawing or a book and\u00a0<em>not<\/em>\u00a0how original (new) the idea behind the copyright work was or is.<\/p>\n<p>Just as importantly, how something works cannot contribute to originality in the copyright sense, as copyright does not protect function. Function, or method of operability, is protected by patents. As a result, if an aspect of a copyright work is chosen or constrained by function it will usually not be considered when determining if that work as a whole is protected by copyright.<\/p>\n<p>This is particularly the case where the originality claimed (for copyright) comes from a choice that is dictated by how the product works \u2013 there are, for example, only a set number of ways a wheel can be attached to a leg to allow for steering and movement. Where that choice is constrained by function, there\u2019s no originality.<\/p>\n<h6>The Court of Appeal\u2019s decision<\/h6>\n<p>The Court of Appeal in\u00a0<em>Sealegs<\/em>\u00a0confronted this issue in the context of \u201cleg\u201d assemblies for amphibious boats, where it overturned a High Court decision that had erroneously held a new and unique arrangement of components assembled into \u201clegs\u201d was original for copyright purposes.<\/p>\n<p>The Court of Appeal held that while the idea to put three \u201clegs\u201d together in a particular way and attach them to the outside of a boat was original in the ordinary sense (as it was a new idea), it was not original in a copyright sense. What was protectable by copyright was the\u00a0<em>expression of that idea<\/em>\u00a0by choosing a specific arrangement of the parts in a particular way to form a \u201cleg\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Court of Appeal noted that Sealegs\u2019 evidence showed that its choice of arrangement was dictated entirely by \u201cthe functional operability of the leg\u201d.<sup>[2]<\/sup>\u00a0Because of this, Sealegs\u2019 choice was, in effect, made for it and not by it. Any skill, labour and judgment that went into the sequence of the various generic components in the leg assemblies, the Court said, was negligible.<sup>[3]<\/sup>\u00a0As a result, Sealegs\u2019 particular arrangement of its \u201clegs\u201d was not original in the copyright sense<sup>[4]<\/sup>\u00a0and Orion had not infringed.<\/p>\n<h6>New is not always original (for copyright)<\/h6>\n<p>Sealeg\u2019s case is a reminder that it is important to always ensure that you don\u2019t fall into the trap of thinking a new (or innovative) idea will automatically be protected by copyright, much like Sealegs did. Copyright arises from the effort expended to express that idea, not from the idea itself. Or in legal terms: novelty is not synonymous with originality.<sup>[5]<\/sup><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-footnotes\"><em>[1] \u00a0Zhang v Sealegs International Limited [2019] NZCA 389 at [121]: \u201cIt is unsurprising that it provoked Mr Miles\u2019 criticism of \u201ccopyright heresy\u201d.\u201d<br \/>\n<\/em><em>[2] Zhang v Sealegs International Limited [2019] NZCA 389 at [122].<br \/>\n<\/em><em>[3] Zhang v Sealegs International Limited [2019] NZCA 389 at [122].<br \/>\n<\/em><em>[4] Zhang v Sealegs International Limited [2019] NZCA 389 at [122].<br \/>\n<\/em><em>[5] See Zhang v Sealegs International Limited [2019] NZCA 389 at [106] and [108].<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Court of Appeal recently released its well-reasoned and articulate decision in\u00a0Zhang v Sealegs International Limited\u00a0[2019] NZCA 389 (\u201cSealegs\u201d), detailing the difference between \u2018original\u2019 in the ordinary sense of the word and \u2018original\u2019 in copyright law. The decision is an important one for businesses, and lawyers, because it demonstrates that merely because an arrangement of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[232],"class_list":["post-3521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-copyright-au","insight-resource-articles-au"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Copyright \u201cHeresy\u201d \u2013 when original is not original for Copyright Law - James &amp; Wells<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Copyright \u201cHeresy\u201d \u2013 when original is not original for Copyright Law - James &amp; Wells\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Court of Appeal recently released its well-reasoned and articulate decision in\u00a0Zhang v Sealegs International Limited\u00a0[2019] NZCA 389 (\u201cSealegs\u201d), detailing the difference between \u2018original\u2019 in the ordinary sense of the word and \u2018original\u2019 in copyright law. The decision is an important one for businesses, and lawyers, because it demonstrates that merely because an arrangement of...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James &amp; Wells\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-05T03:17:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Article-7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Mertens\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Mertens\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jennifer Mertens\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/#\/schema\/person\/64e4a40a49fe981aaa979bfd660eb636\"},\"headline\":\"Copyright \u201cHeresy\u201d \u2013 when original is not original for Copyright Law\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-05T03:17:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/\"},\"wordCount\":615,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Article-7.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Copyright\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/\",\"name\":\"Copyright \u201cHeresy\u201d \u2013 when original is not original for Copyright Law - James &amp; Wells\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Article-7.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-05T03:17:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/#\/schema\/person\/64e4a40a49fe981aaa979bfd660eb636\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Article-7.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Article-7.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":610,\"caption\":\"Business woman\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Copyright \u201cHeresy\u201d \u2013 when original is not original for Copyright Law\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/\",\"name\":\"James &amp; Wells\",\"description\":\"Excellence in IP\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/#\/schema\/person\/64e4a40a49fe981aaa979bfd660eb636\",\"name\":\"Jennifer Mertens\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Copyright \u201cHeresy\u201d \u2013 when original is not original for Copyright Law - James &amp; Wells","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Copyright \u201cHeresy\u201d \u2013 when original is not original for Copyright Law - James &amp; Wells","og_description":"The Court of Appeal recently released its well-reasoned and articulate decision in\u00a0Zhang v Sealegs International Limited\u00a0[2019] NZCA 389 (\u201cSealegs\u201d), detailing the difference between \u2018original\u2019 in the ordinary sense of the word and \u2018original\u2019 in copyright law. The decision is an important one for businesses, and lawyers, because it demonstrates that merely because an arrangement of...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/","og_site_name":"James &amp; Wells","article_published_time":"2019-09-05T03:17:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":610,"url":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Article-7.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jennifer Mertens","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jennifer Mertens","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/"},"author":{"name":"Jennifer Mertens","@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/#\/schema\/person\/64e4a40a49fe981aaa979bfd660eb636"},"headline":"Copyright \u201cHeresy\u201d \u2013 when original is not original for Copyright Law","datePublished":"2019-09-05T03:17:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/"},"wordCount":615,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Article-7.jpg","articleSection":["Copyright"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/","url":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/","name":"Copyright \u201cHeresy\u201d \u2013 when original is not original for Copyright Law - James &amp; Wells","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Article-7.jpg","datePublished":"2019-09-05T03:17:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/#\/schema\/person\/64e4a40a49fe981aaa979bfd660eb636"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Article-7.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Article-7.jpg","width":1024,"height":610,"caption":"Business woman"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/copyright-heresy-when-original-is-not-original-for-copyright-law\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Copyright \u201cHeresy\u201d \u2013 when original is not original for Copyright Law"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/","name":"James &amp; Wells","description":"Excellence in IP","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/nz\/#\/schema\/person\/64e4a40a49fe981aaa979bfd660eb636","name":"Jennifer Mertens"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jamesandwells.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}