Opinion ID: 774264
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Unprotected Elements of the Yankee Labels

Text: 13 The district court determined that the rectangular, gold-bordered name plate, [the] full-bleed photos, and [the use of] similarly sized labels, were crude, physical elements [that] do not enjoy copyright protection, and therefore only evaluated the photographic images on the labels for infringement. Yankee I, 99 F. Supp. 2d at 148. Yankee contends that its choices to use such elements were discretionary, and must be protected by copyright because other choices were possible. We agree with the district court. The discretion claimed by Yankee involves (i) the use of a rectangular title plate with block lettering on a white background; (ii) the imposition of that title plate, centered, on a photographic representation of the candle fragrance; and (iii) a rectangular border around the photograph. This collection of common geometric shapes with a particular photographic technique is not sufficiently original to qualify for copyright protection. See Atari Games Corp. v. Oman, 979 F.2d 242, 247 (D.C. Cir. 1992) (We do not in any way question the Register's position that 'simple geometric shapes and coloring alone are per se not copyrightable.'); Kitchens of Sara Lee, Inc. v. Nifty Foods Corp., 266 F.2d 541, 545 (2d Cir. 1959) (circular, rectangular, and octagonal shapes not protected); William S. Geiger Corp. v. Gigi Accessories, Inc., No. 97 Civ. 5034(JSM), 1997 WL 458668, at  (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 11, 1997) (plaintiff has no right to copyright a geometric shape). 14 Moreover, the use of a border element is an essentially functional design choice not protected by copyright. See 17 U.S.C. § 101 (providing copyright protection for works of artistic craftsmanship insofar as their form but not their mechanical or utilitarian aspects); CCM Cable Rep, Inc. v. Ocean Coast Props., Inc., 97 F.3d 1504, 1519-20 (1st Cir. 1996) (copyright law denies protection to forms of expression directed solely at functional considerations). A border is a common method of separating a photograph from a background; the use of gold as the border color is a common method of signifying opulence and quality. See Pubs. Int'l, Ltd. v. Landoll, Inc., 164 F.3d 337, 341 (7th Cir. 1998). Likewise, copyright does not provide protection for the particular style of photography chosen by Yankee (full-bleed). To do so would impermissibly narrow the possibilities available to other label designers. See Designer's View, Inc. v. Publix Super Markets, Inc., 764 F. Supp. 1473, 1479 (S.D. Fla. 1978) (medium of artwork not protected by copyright).