Friday, November 14, 2008


Monday, Nov. 17: Perfume as a Copyrightable Creative Work?

Copyright protects expressive works of intellectual endeavor:  literature, music, films, perfume... Perfume?? “Yes,” said the Netherlands Supreme Court in a recent decision. “Yes” and “No” have said various French courts grappling with the same question over the past 25 years.

A lecture on Monday, November 17, at 3:00 p.m. at the Sterling Memorial Library will consider whether copyright should be extended to such products of human ingenuity, and the role of human perception in determinations of copyright eligibility.

Titled “Genius in a Bottle:  Perfume as a Copyrightable Creative Work?” it’s the first in a series of lectures devoted to copyright and intellectual property being sponsored by the Information Society Project at Yale Law School and the University Library. 

All lectures in the series will take place at the Sterling Memorial Library lecture hall, 128 Wall Street, New Haven. They are free an open to the public.

Future speakers include:

  • James Neal
    Vice President for Information Services & University Librarian, Columbia University
    December 2, 2008, 3:00 p.m.
  • Sheree Carter-Galvan
    Copyright Counsel, Yale University
    February 2, 2009, 3:00 p.m.
  • Kenny Crews
    Director of the Copyright Advisory Office, Columbia University
    March 5, 2009, 3:00 p.m.

For more information, contact Geoffrey Little at the Yale University Library, Geoffrey.little@yale.edu.