Today I ran across this article, which notes the attempt by Nestle in Australia to copyright two images of coffee in a mug:
At stake are two images of coffee; one is a cup of black coffee in a white cup viewed from above.
The other is an image of a red coffee mug, viewed from the front.
If Nestle is successful coffee roasters, sellers and even cafes risk breaching copyright if they use images similar to Nestle’s.
And you just wanna say, Are you kidding? Of course they are not: companies are not screwing around with this stuff, because every tiny victory they win pushes the envelope for exactly how far they can go in owning every image, word, thought. Copyrighting a particular instance of coffee in a mug? Hey, have at it. (Although, that would be a trademark, wouldn’t it? Damn, I can never remember this stuff.) But to own the actual concept of coffee in a white or red mug?
Ye Gods. The sheer gall.