Morrissey v. Proctor & Gamble
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
379 F.2d 675 (1st Cir. 1967)
Relevant factsFree
Morrissey (plaintiff) copyrighted a basic set of sweepstakes-entry rules covering routine matters like where to write personal information and what to do without a social security number; Proctor & Gamble (defendant) published very similar rules for its own sweepstakes, and Morrissey sued for copyright infringement. The district court granted Proctor & Gamble summary judgment, and Morrissey appealed.
IssueFree
Whether, when an uncopyrightable idea is so narrow that there is only one or a few ways to express it, the expression of the idea is copyrightable.