At most, “The Bluebook” would be protected by “thin copyright,” which would cover the explanations and formatting. Their “carefully curated examples” are information that is in the public domain, and in many cases could be replaced with more relevant examples, IMO.
This actually one of those easy questions. Yes, the BB is copyright protected. No, the “system” it describes is not. This is the principle of Baker v. Seldin (1879). That’s why Prof. Martin and others can describe the system and cite to the Rules, or even quote excerpts (fair use), but can’t reproduce the BB’s entire text.
BMF said:
At most, “The Bluebook” would be protected by “thin copyright,” which would cover the explanations and formatting. Their “carefully curated examples” are information that is in the public domain, and in many cases could be replaced with more relevant examples, IMO.
Posted: Jan 28, 2015 06:35 pm CST
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JDM said:
This actually one of those easy questions. Yes, the BB is copyright protected. No, the “system” it describes is not. This is the principle of Baker v. Seldin (1879). That’s why Prof. Martin and others can describe the system and cite to the Rules, or even quote excerpts (fair use), but can’t reproduce the BB’s entire text.
Posted: Feb 16, 2015 01:01 pm CST
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