Feist Doctrine Law and Legal Definition
Feist Doctrine is a principle that says “sweat of the brow” will not support U.S. copyright protection in an unoriginal collection of facts. This principle was set down in the case Feist Publ'ns, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., 499 U.S. 340 (U.S. 1991), where in it was held that mere collections of facts are considered unoriginal and thus not protected by copyright, no matter how much work went into collating them. A factual compilation is eligible for copyright if it features an original selection or arrangement of facts, but the copyright is limited to the particular selection or arrangement. In no event may copyright extend to the facts themselves.
