No, You Can't Copyright A Hookah
from the lessons-in-copyright dept
Thanks to the nature of "ownership society" and the way copyright maximalists have convinced so many people that every concept and idea should be "property" that is "owned" by someone, you get all sorts of bizarre copyright lawsuits thrown about. Here's just one recent example. Two California Hookah makers got into a legal dispute after one accused the other of copyright infringement, for copying the shape of a hookah water container, as seen in the following image:![](https://i.imgur.com/IuslUyg.png)
The shape of a container is not independent of a container's utilitarian function--to hold the contents within its shape--because the shape accomplishes the function. The district court correctly concluded that the shape of Inhale's hookah water container is not copyrightable.Not only did the two courts both toss the lawsuit, but they've awarded attorneys' fees to the defendant, Starbuzz, for facing such a frivolous suit.
Of course, almost anyone who's studied the basics of copyright would have known exactly how all of this would work out, leaving you with the simple question of wondering just what Inhale Inc.'s lawyers were smoking when they let the company move forward with the case.
![Hide This Hide this](https://ii.techdirt.com/s/t/i/topclose.png)
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Wow! A new LOW in importance! Marijuana Mike digs deeper!
Masnicking: daily spurts of short and trivial traffic-generating items.
11:30:04[m-901-4]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Wow! A new LOW in importance! Marijuana Mike digs deeper!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Actually...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Wow! A new LOW in importance! Marijuana Mike digs deeper!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Wow! A new LOW in importance! Marijuana Mike digs deeper!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Whoops!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
You can't copyright a Hookah
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: You can't copyright a Hookah
[ link to this | view in thread ]
But the lawyer still gets paid
And who pays when the plantiff loses? Does this come out of the fee the client paid their lawyer? Or is Inhale, Inc stuck with the bill for their lawyer AND they have to pay the defendants?
I don't know if you can blame the lawyer for this. After all, I'm sure he's in the same situation as doctors: the client comes to them with instructions and the statement "if you don't help me, I'll find someone who will". It takes a pretty ethical lawyer to turn down business just because he knows he can't win.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]