499 U.S. 340 (1991) (Supreme Court of the United States)
Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service is the modern cornerstone of U.S.
Does a telephone company's white pages directory—an alphabetical listing of subscribers' names and numbers compiled under regulatory obligation—possess sufficient originality in its selection, coordination, or arrangement to warrant copyright protection such that copying those listings constitutes infringement?
Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Originality requires independent creation and a minimal degree of creativity; mere labor or investment, standing alone, is insufficient (rejecting the "sweat of the brow" doctrine). Facts are not copyrightable because they are discoveries, not original expression. Compilations of facts are copyrightable only to the extent that their selection, coordination, or arrangement is original, and infringement requires copying those original elements (17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 102(a), 102(b), 103).
No. Rural's white pages lacked the requisite originality in selection, coordination, or arrangement. Because Feist copied only unprotectable facts and not any original expression, there was no copyright infringement. The Supreme Court reversed the judgment for Rural.
Feist is the definitive statement that copyright does not protect facts and that compilations of facts enjoy only thin protection limited to original selection, coordination, or arrangement. It rejects the "sweat of the brow" doctrine and guards the public domain, ensuring that essential factual information—names, numbers, dates, statistics—remains freely usable. The case anchors modern analysis of directories, databases, and data-driven products and guides creators toward adding creative selection or arrangement (or using contracts and technological measures) if they seek protection. For law students, Feist is indispensable for understanding originality, the idea/expression dichotomy, and the limits of copyright as an information policy tool in both analog and digital contexts.