Scenes A Faire Definition:

An intellectual property term used in reference to copyright to exclude from copyright and prevent alleged holders of copyright from attempting to assert exclusive ownership of elements of a work that are standard, stock or common either in general or in relation to a particular topic.

Under the scènes à faire doctrine, the courts will not protect, under copyright, commonplace elements.

In Herzog, Justice Middlebrooks wrote:

"Scenes a faire, sequences of events which necessarily follow from a common theme, are not protectable.

"Incidents, characters or settings that are indispensable or standard in the treatment of a given topic are not copyrightable."

Middlebrook gave as scenes a faire examples in the context of a murder-mystery dramatic production (movie):

• the drunk;
• the prostitute;
• derelict cars;
• the Irish cop; or
• the cop-and-robber foot chase.

In Evans v Wallace Berrie & Co., further examples were given in the context of a dramatic work on the topic of a fictional underwater civilization:

• using a sand dollar for currency;
• seahorses for transportation; and
• places made of oysters.

REFERENCES:

• Duhaime, Lloyd, Copyright Law
• Duhaime, Lloyd, Intellectual and Internet Law
• Evans v Wallace Berrie & Co. 681 F. Supp. 813 (1988)
• Herzog v Castle Rock Entertainment 193 F. 3d 1241 (US Court of Appeals, 1th Circuit, 1999), affirming the opinion of Florida district court judge Middlebrooks.