Question for Mr. Binder

[Archive]

Posted By: JK

Barry,

My opinion would not change. Discovering the existence of an uncataloged card is not an artistic, creative or intellectual (or any other category that I can think of that might be copyrightable) "creation" by the owner. Ultimately, the source of the information - the card itself - is a "public" document in the sense that it was sold to the general public, created for the general public, is not an original work of authorship by the current owner and, in all likelihood, the owner is merely the last of many to have owned the card and know of its existence.

A few years ago, I purchased a 1921 self developing strip card of grover alexander. The seller had a few others including ruth, hornsby, cobb, and johnson. I cant recall if the alexander was checklisted or not, but one or two of the cards were not in the standard catalog. I wouldnt think for a minute that the fact that I realized this made it my discovery. These cards were for sale on a dealer's website - the dealer certainly knew what he had (though I cant recall if he knew they were uncataloged or not). We both had the same information (i.e. that a particular card exists) as did anyone else who saw the ad and considered purchasing one of the cards. How does the fact that I looked at a checklist and realized one or more of the cards werent listed make it my intellectual property?

Edited for a few typos.