Satava v. Lowery
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
323 F.3d 805 (2003)
Richard Satava (plaintiff) created realistic glass-in-glass sculptures of jellyfish, using the centuries-old technique of encasing a glass sculpture within molten glass, and consistently oriented his jellyfish vertically so they filled most of the outer glass. After seeing one of Satava's pieces, Christopher Lowry (defendant) began creating his own glass-in-glass jellyfish sculptures, and Satava sued for copyright infringement; the district court granted Satava a preliminary injunction and ruled in his favor, and Lowry appealed.
Whether a combination of unprotected elements in a work may be granted copyright protection if the work adds original aspects to features drawn from the public domain.