Are patches copyrightable?

Tips and techniques for Minimoog Analog Synthesizers
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Gump
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:24 pm

Are patches copyrightable?

Post by Gump » Mon Jan 30, 2006 4:48 am

You can copyright a manuscript but not a typeface.

On the other hand, a film is copyrighted and so are the likenesses of all of the actors in it.

Musically, you copyright a song's melody and lyrics but not the harmony or rhythm. Musical copyright infringement is somewhat subjective and more difficult to prosecute than text. (Partial workaround: protect yourself by printing the lyrics in the liner notes.)

But then again, some companies like Intel and NBC have a "sound logo" which I very strongly suspect is trademarked.

And just to complete the thought, what is a patch anyway? It's a configuration of electronic components, which I believe makes it patentable. But patent squabbles are for manufacturers, not artists.

So my uneducated guess would be (in the US)
copyrightable -> no
trademarkable -> yes
patentable -> yes, but... get a life!

Anyone looked into this?

Kramereng
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2006 1:31 am

Post by Kramereng » Wed Feb 01, 2006 3:55 pm

No. I'm an entertainment laywer. :wink:

Kramereng
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2006 1:31 am

Post by Kramereng » Thu Feb 02, 2006 3:21 am

Kramereng wrote:No. I'm an entertainment laywer. :wink:
Man this place is dead. Anyway, it's possible that a complex arpeggiator could be since it's really just a progression of notes, much like a song.

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