Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service Co.
United States Supreme Court
499 U.S. 340 (1991)
Relevant factsFree
Rural Telephone (plaintiff) published a white-pages phone book listing its subscribers alphabetically, using information gathered directly from those subscribers. Feist Publications (defendant), which published a broader-area phone book, was denied permission to use Rural's listings but copied them anyway. Rural sued Feist for copyright infringement.
IssueFree
Whether an alphabetically arranged compilation of facts, such as a phone book's white pages, is sufficiently original to receive copyright protection.
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