🚀 go-pugleaf

>In article <dbAj02yw29ss01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com>, tjc50@juts.ccc.amdahl.com 
>(Terry Carroll) writes:
>> "Look and Feel" did not originate with software copyright.  It originated 
>in 
>> a case where Sid and Marty Kroft sued McDonald's for producing television 
>> commercials with the same "look and feel" as (but no literal copying of) 
>the 
>> Kroft TV shows like "H.R. Puffenstuff".  It's not a result of an attempt to 
>> effectively produce a software patent.

>I have to correct myself here in two ways.

>First, the phrase used back then was "total concept and feel", not "look and 
>feel", but manings of the two phrases are identical;

>Second, the Krofft (not "Kroft") case did not originate the doctrine, but 
>apparently began its entrenchment.  The case in which "total concept and 
>feel" originated was Roth Greeting Cards v. United Card Co., 429 F.2d 1106 
>(9th Cir., 1970).  The Krofft case was not until 1977: Sid and Marty Krofft 
>Television Productions v. McDonalds Corp. 562 F.2d 1157 (9th Cir., 1977).

>As a side note, both of these cases were decided under the old Copyright Act 
>of 1909, because the Copyright Act of 1976 did not take effect until January 
>1, 1978.

I haven't reread those cases recently, but I am not sure that they would
have come out any differently under the '76 Act.

Bruce Hayden
bhayden@csn.org