Copyright Validityit— - The Merger Doctrine is a legal concept which states that, when two or more works are combined to form a single product, the copyright of the original works is merged into the new work. This means that the creator of the resulting work is the only one who holds the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, and market it. This doctrine applies to literary, musical, dramatic, and artistic works, and serves to protect the original creators by ensuring that they are the sole owners of their works. The doctrine is divided into two main types: 1. The Absolute Merger Doctrine: This doctrine states that once two works are combined, the copyright of the original works is completely merged into the new work. The resulting work is the sole property of the creator, and they have exclusive rights to it. 2. The Partial Merger Doctrine: This doctrine states that the copyright of the original works is partially merged into the new work. The creator of the new work still has exclusive rights to the new work, but the copyright of the original works is not completely merged. This allows other parties to use elements of the original works in new works.
Copyright - Validity - The Merger Doctrine
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FAQ
The Merger Doctrine is a legal principle in criminal law that applies when a defendant commits a single act that satisfies the definition of two separate offenses. In such cases, the lesser of the two offenses will be dropped, and the defendant will only be charged with the greater offense.
For example, if A owns Blackacre together with an appurtenant easement over Greenacre and later acquires fee simple title to Greenacre, A's easement interest in Greenacre would merge into his fee simple interest in Greenacre and be extinguished.
A merger defense is available when the creator of a work makes design choices that limit the defendant's options; for example, when making software designed to work with other software, the second programmer's choice of code is determined by the code written by the first.
The merger doctrine in copyright states that if an idea and the expression of the idea are so tied together that the idea and its expression are one - there is only one conceivable way or a drastically limited number of ways to express and embody the idea in a work - then the expression of the idea is uncopyrightable
In the burglary example above, the defendant could be charged with burglary, trespass, destruction of property and theft. However, if the defendant is convicted of the burglary, then the remaining charges may be merged into the burglary conviction thus showing only the conviction for burglary.
To avoid dual convictions, the courts have created the merger doctrine. Under it, the court may vacate a false imprisonment or kidnapping conviction where the period of abduction is brief and there is no kidnapping flavor to the case. Under these circumstances, the charges are said to merge together.
In civil procedure, the principle that a final judgment for the plaintiff brings together all claims involved in the lawsuit. As a result, the plaintiff can only enforce the judgment awarded - and cannot bring any of the claims again because the award seems too small. This effect of a final judgment is called merger.
The doctrine of merger provides that when the expression is the idea, and vice-versa, and there is only one way to express the underlying idea, the idea will merge with the expression as to make them indistinguishable. Consequently, the expression becomes non-copyrightable.