Scenes a faire
24/6/19 Scenes a faire
“Scenes a faire” is a term that refers to characters, places, story elements, language, etc, which are standard to some general theme or topic, and are often an indispensable part of that theme or topic. Such scenes a faire is not capable of being protected by copyright. For example, a science fiction story may have robots, high-tech gadgets, spaceships, a hero fighting adversity against a domineering leader, etc. These are all scenes a faire and not protectable by copyright (= copyrightable). However, the application and expression of these elements in any given story would be protectable.
One of the elements necessary to have a copyrightable work is “originality.” Generally speaking, the bar is set quite low in determining such originality. However, where there is no other way of saying, photographing or otherwise creating an idea, the Courts prevent the monopolization of that idea through the application of the above doctrine.
