Internet Library of Law
and Court Decisions

FAQs - Internet Library of Law and Court Decisions - Updated June 9, 2002

Court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment and dismissed copyright infringement claim brought by plaintiff, who asserted that defendants had copied a series of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) found on plaintiff's website.  The court held that a comparison of the parties' respective FAQs did not support plaintiff's contention of copying.  While there were similarities between the FAQs, they arose from the fact that the parties each created their FAQs to answer factual questions about their respective tanning products, which were themselves similar.  These similarities were not the product of copying.  As neither the ideas and facts presented in these FAQs nor the FAQ format itself could be copyrighted, plaintiff's copyright infringement claim failed.  The balance of plaintiff's claims - unfair competition and trademark infringement arising from the same alleged copying - were dismissed on preemption grounds.