Legal Definitions - Feist doctrine

The Feist doctrine is a foundational principle in U.S. copyright law that defines what kind of factual compilations can receive copyright protection. It establishes that merely expending significant effort or "sweat of the brow" to gather and organize facts is not enough to secure a copyright for a collection of facts if the selection, coordination, or arrangement of those facts lacks originality.

In essence, while individual facts themselves cannot be copyrighted, a compilation of facts can be copyrighted if the author has made an original contribution in how those facts are chosen, ordered, or presented. The Feist doctrine emphasizes that this originality, no matter how minimal, is the constitutional requirement for copyright protection, not simply the labor involved in collecting the data.

Here are some examples illustrating the Feist doctrine:

• A comprehensive list of all registered voters in a specific electoral district, organized alphabetically by last name.

  Illustration: Imagine a political campaign spends months meticulously compiling a complete list of every registered voter in a district, including their addresses and party affiliations, and publishes it in a simple alphabetical directory. Under the Feist doctrine, this compilation would likely not be copyrightable. While significant effort ("sweat of the brow") was expended to gather the public information, the selection (all registered voters) and arrangement (alphabetical) are entirely unoriginal and commonplace. The facts (voter names, addresses, affiliations) are publicly available, and their simple listing does not meet the minimal originality standard required for copyright protection.

• A database of all publicly available nutritional information for common fruits and vegetables.

  Illustration: A health and wellness company creates an extensive database by meticulously collecting every publicly disclosed nutritional value (e.g., calories, vitamins, fiber content) for common fruits and vegetables from government health websites and scientific studies. The database presents these facts in a straightforward, standardized table format. Despite the considerable time and resources invested in compiling this information, the Feist doctrine would likely prevent this database from being copyrighted. The nutritional values are facts, and their presentation lacks any original selection, coordination, or arrangement beyond a basic, uncreative organization. The effort alone does not create a copyrightable work.

• A chronological timeline of all major sporting event winners from the last century.

  Illustration: A sports historian compiles a timeline listing every winner of a major championship (e.g., the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals) from 1920 to the present, extracting the dates and winning teams directly from official league records and news archives. The information is presented strictly in chronological order. Even if the historian spent many hours carefully extracting and formatting this information, the resulting timeline would not be eligible for copyright protection under the Feist doctrine. The selection of "all major winners" is not original, and the chronological arrangement is a standard, unoriginal method of organizing historical facts. The value comes from the facts themselves, not from any creative input in their presentation.