499 U.S. 340 (1991)
Feist Publications, Inc. v.
Can a collection of facts, such as telephone numbers, be copyrighted, and does compiling these facts into a directory meet the originality requirement under copyright law?
For a work to be eligible for copyright protection, it must exhibit originality. This requires at least some minimal degree of creativity; mere facts are not eligible for copyright protection.
The Court held that a compilation of facts is not entitled to copyright protection unless it contains some element of originality in its selection, coordination, or arrangement. Since the telephone listings at issue were facts and their arrangement lacked the requisite level of creativity, they were not copyrightable.
Feist v. Rural holds immense significance in copyright law, particularly for students and practitioners dealing with the scope of copyrightable material. The case clarifies that originality, a necessary criterion for copyright, must be present in order to reduce the stifling of access to factual information. This case shifted understanding toward a qualitative assessment of creativity, rather than mere quantitative measures of effort, impacting various creative and informational industries.