New Mexico
How Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co. applies in New Mexico: state-specific rules, key cases, and bar exam notes for Copyright.
New Mexico adheres to the originality requirement established in Feist. Courts in New Mexico recognize that merely collecting facts does not generate copyright protection unless there is some degree of creativity in the arrangement or presentation of those facts.
In New Mexico, copyright protection does not extend to factual compilations that lack originality—similar to the federal standard set in Feist. Courts require a minimal level of creativity in the selection or arrangement of the facts.
The Court ruled that public records, while factual, do not contain copyrightable expression as they simply convey information without original authorship.
The Court held that compilations of travel information lacked creativity in their presentation, thus failing to meet the originality threshold outlined in Feist.
Determined that course syllabi, while compiled, did not offer sufficient originality to warrant copyright protection under state and federal standards.
New Mexico's copyright standards mirror those of federal law, emphasizing the necessity of originality for copyright protection. There are no distinctive deviations in New Mexico that alter the application of the Feist decision at the state level.
Understanding the implications of the Feist case is essential for the New Mexico bar exam, particularly in the context of determining copyrightability based on originality.