[arjaybe]

I know titles aren't copyrightable, but I wonder if that extends to tables of contents.

I have a friend who has a grand plan for a series on maritime history, and he sent me his proposed table of contents. It has parts with titles and chapters with titles that lay out his idea for the structure and content of the series. The thing is, he's sworn me to secrecy about it and has plastered copyright labels all over it. I want to know if I can tell him whether he can claim copyright like that.

I think what's behind it is that he thinks he has a great and valuable idea and he's afraid someone will steal it and publish his story before he can.