Opinion ID: 4539657
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Work of Authorship

Text: To resolve this appeal, we need not definitively decide whether Mourabit’s Makeup Artistry is a copyrightable work. This is because the scope of copyright preemption is broader than the scope of copyrightable materials. See Forest Park Pictures v. Universal Television Network, Inc., 683 F.3d 424, 429-30 (2d Cir. 2012) (“The scope of copyright for preemption purposes . . . extends beyond the scope of available copyright protection.”); see also 1 Nimmer on Copyright § 1.16 (2019) (“As has often been observed, ‘the shadow actually cast by the Act’s preemption is notably broader than the wing of its protection.’” (quoting U.S. ex rel. Berge v. Bd. of Trustees of the Univ. of Alabama, 104 F.3d 1453, 1463 (4th Cir. 1997)). Accordingly, “[a] work need not consist entirely of copyrightable material in order to meet the subject matter requirement.” Briarpatch, 373 F.3d at 305. Instead, the work “need only fit into one of the copyrightable categories in a broad sense.” Id. Here, we conclude that, for preemption purposes only, Mourabit’s Makeup Artistry falls comfortably within “the broad ambit of the subject matter categories listed in section 102(a).” Forest Park Pictures, 683 F.3d at 429 (internal quotation marks omitted). In particular, the Copyright Act protects “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works,” 17 U.S.C. § 102(a)(5), a category that encompasses “pictures, paintings, or drawings” depicted in either two-dimensional or three-dimensional space, Star Athletica, L.L.C. v. Varsity Brands, Inc., 137 S. Ct. 1002, 1009 (2017); see also 17 U.S.C. 7 § 101 (defining “‘[p]ictorial, graphic, and sculptural works [to] include two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art”). Mourabit’s Makeup Artistry fits into this category in “a broad sense” because it is essentially a painting that is displayed on a person’s face. Briarpatch, 373 F.3d at 305. As do other works that the Supreme Court has deemed to have “pictorial, graphic, or sculptural qualities,” the Makeup Artistry involves the decorative “arrangement of colors, shapes, [and] stripes.” Star Athletica, 137 S. Ct. at 1012. Thus, while we stop short of holding that Mourabit’s Makeup Artistry qualifies as a copyrightable work of authorship, we conclude that this work shares enough features with the category of pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works to fall within the “broad ambit” of section 102(a) and, therefore, to be potentially subject to copyright preemption. Forest Park Pictures, 683 F.3d at 429.