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Simple English definitions for legal terms
sweat-of-the-brow doctrine
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A quick definition of sweat-of-the-brow doctrine:
The sweat-of-the-brow doctrine used to be a rule that said copyrights could protect the hard work and money put into creating something, even if it wasn't very original. However, this rule was thrown out by the Supreme Court in 1991 in a case called Feist Pubs., Inc. v. Rural Tel. Servs. Co. Now, copyrights only protect things that are truly original and creative.
A more thorough explanation:
The sweat-of-the-brow doctrine used to be a principle that said copyrights could protect the hard work and money that went into creating a work, rather than just the originality of the work itself. For example, if someone spent a lot of time and effort compiling a phone book, they could claim copyright protection for it, even though the information in the phone book was not original.
However, in 1991, the Supreme Court rejected this doctrine in a case called Feist Pubs., Inc. v. Rural Tel. Servs. Co. The court said that copyright protection should only be given to works that are original and creative, not just those that required a lot of effort to create.
For example, if someone takes a photograph of a famous landmark, they cannot claim copyright protection just because they spent a lot of time and money traveling to the location and setting up the shot. The photograph must be original and creative in order to be protected by copyright law.