Quote:
Originally Posted by whitearrow
I doubt that if it ever came down to an infringement suit (which it wouldn't) a grocery list would qualify as an "original work of authorship" under the US Copyright Act.
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I believe it would depend on the intent of the list, believe it or not.
Suppose, for example, that a weight loss company sold a booklet that included a grocery list of specific foods to eat to comply with their weight loss program. It might require a title, such as, "The Excelsior Weight Loss Grocery List," to qualify... and the list would probably have to be unique enough to make it unlikely that it would be duplicated by other sources. That could be held under copyright, and anyone who copied and redistributed it would do so against copyright law.
Obviously, this is more extensive than your typical home "milk, 1 dozen eggs, butter, cheese" grocery list, which would not be granted copyright in the U.S..