Copyright -- Crossword/Sudoku

Farcear

Just something that came up in conversation today; do you reckon that something like a crossword puzzle or sudoku could be a "literary work" per the Berne convention?

Did a Google search but didn't really find anything particularly useful though I did come across one article about the Bulgarian Chess Federation's attempt to copyright chess moves : http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/topalov-wins-second-game-with-black/

NoQuarter

Interesting question, i would say its possible.

Cant see how you could CR chess moves though. I would look at it like a technique, which we know that a style of writing cannot be copywritten.

Victor

Like a directory (you can't copywrite a fact, but the directory is a greater work than individual facts), I would think that if you produced a series of crosswords, for a newspaper or book, that they would be copyrightable. Copywriting an individual crossword, crossword style, clue style or clues would be more difficult.

You can't copyright the concept of a crossword (pre-existing art), but you might be able to copyright a novel type of crossword. Maybe a 3-dimensional one.

dermot_sheehan

No literary merit I think,

and I think it would be caught by the s. 9(2) exception in the Patents Act regarding patents:
( c ) a scheme, rule or method for performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business, or a program for a computer,
( d ) the presentation of informatio

Fat Ronaldo

gabhain7 wrote: »

No literary merit I think,

and I think it would be caught by the s. 9(2) exception in the Patents Act regarding patents:
( c ) a scheme, rule or method for performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business, or a program for a computer,
( d ) the presentation of informatio

That exception relates only to patents; the query is regarding copyright.
Only the exact wording of the clues perhaps could be protected as a "literary work", assuming that the clues would afford some instruction. A work should afford "either information and instruction, or pleasure in the form of literary enjoyment" to be considered a literary work.

The Express Newspapers case from the UK in 1990 protected something arguably similar as a "literary work"; some kind of a newspaper game with codes and numbers or something.

Or maybe the whole thing could be treated as a database:
Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 s.2(1) -
'In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:
“database” means a collection of independent works, data or other materials, arranged in a systematic or methodical way and individually accessible by any means but excludes computer programs used in the making or operation of a database.'

Pines

I mostly agree with Fat Ronaldo. The exception to patentability is a red herring here, as many of the exclusions from patentability are protected by copyright, including rules for games, presentations of information and aesthetic creations.

However, it's not the case that only the clues could be protected as a literary work. It is true that each clue could arguably be a literary work, as the clues in a crossword like Crosaire probably exhibit enough skill, effort and judgment to enjoy copyright (the same would not be true of a Simplex-type clue such as "utensil for cutting food (5)").

In addition, however, there is protection for the compilation of clues as a literary work (a work which is written spoken or sung). There is a history of copyright being recognised in things like tables, football pools coupons etc., none of which would be as literary in character as a cryptic crossword. Such a compilation can attract copyright even if the underlying elements being compiled are not themselves copyright works.

Also, as Fat Ronaldo pointed out, the crossword might be seen as a database in which case database right, or copyright for an original database, might be held to exist.

Whichever way you slice it, I think it would be pretty cut and dried that permission is needed to reproduce a crossword, or indeed a significant part of that crossword, such as the clues and answers in a different grid layout.