On Sunday 04 December 2005 09:38 am, Francesco Poli wrote: > If I understand correctly what you mean, you are talking about > statistics automatically generated by a specific program that counts > words in the document, or something similar. > > If this is the case, I would say there's no creativity in the statistics > generation process. > Probably no creative expression from the original document ends up in > the statitics, either. > Then, the statistics are not eligible for copyright protection, that is > to say, they are not copyrighted.
Yes, that's right on. The final document that will be produced (as described at least) is not a copy of the original and is not a derivative since it does not involve an act of authorship. But more importantly, the counting of the instances of a word is almost without question an act of fair use because the only reason you would engage in the counting is to then say something about that count. Such a statement is part of criticism (positive or negative) which is one of the central purposes of the fair use doctrine. I think it's a pretty open and shut. -- Sean Kellogg 3rd Year - University of Washington School of Law Graduate & Professional Student Senate Treasurer UW Service & Activities Committee Chair w: http://blog.probonogeek.org/ So, let go ...Jump in ...Oh well, what you waiting for? ...it's all right ...'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown
