Does Copyright Law Protect Christmas Light Displays?
As the fall season ends, the Mariah Carey defrosting process begins – Christmas is here! Across the country excited families begin their Christmas light extravaganza. Whether it is Candy Cane Lane in Wisconsin or the Land of Lights in Santa Claus, Indiana, you are sure to find incredibly creative Christmas light displays this time of year. However, after looking at all that creativity, one might wonder: does copyright law protect Christmas light displays? The answer is yes — Christmas light displays can be protected by copyright, and we’ll explore the scope of that copyright further in this blog.
Christmas Lights Tradition and History
Electric lighting undoubtedly has roots in intellectual property, dating back to the 1880’s with Thomas Edison’s patented light bulb technology. However, it was Edward Johnson, friend and partner in Edison’s Illumination Company, who put the very first string of electric Christmas tree lights together. By 1917, brightly colored strands of Christmas lights were sold to the public by Albert Sadacca and his trade association, the National Outfit Manufacturers Association (NOMA). President Grover Cleveland further popularized the use of Christmas light decorations when he requested that the White House family Christmas tree be illuminated by hundreds of multi-colored electric light bulbs for the first time.
Although once reserved for the wealthy and fire risk tolerant, today the tradition of Christmas lights includes indoor and outdoor light displays accessible to all those willing to splurge on their electricity bill. These festive winter wonderlands can be so elaborate that they span several miles. In fact, the popularity of Christmas light decorations has increased so much that ABC network created an ongoing decorating competition series titled “The Great Christmas Light Fight” to showcase the incredible creativity shown through elaborate Christmas light displays, choreography, and extravagant holiday designs.
The creative legacy of Christmas lights displays is protected by copyright, if certain standards of copyrightability are met. As we’ll learn there are many reasons why Christmas lights are protectable under copyright law.
Christmas Light Displays Are Protected by Copyright
Under Title 17 Section 102(a) of the 1976 Copyright Act, copyright protection is extended to “original works of authorship” that are “fixed” in any tangible medium of expression. We’ll discuss the copyrightability of Christmas light displays by focusing on 1) which category of copyrightable subject matter these creative works are protected as and 2) how the originality requirement is met.
Christmas Light Displays as Copyrightable Subject Matter
Christmas light displays would primarily qualify for copyright protection as pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works. According to Section 101 of the Copyright Act, pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works include two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art — which accurately describes the two and three-dimensional light displays in the form of snowmen, candy cane, and nutcrackers.
Christmas light displays could also qualify as “compilations” given the definition under Section 101. A compilation is defined as a work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship. For example, Christmas light displays could constitute a compilation of pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works consisting of several three-dimensional artwork that is arranged and coordinated with colorful and festive lights.
Christmas Light Displays as Choreography
The advancement of LED lighting products has transformed Christmas light displays from static, visual artwork to dynamic works. Take for example this creator, who decorated their home in the spirit of a Rock-N-Roll Christmas with a twist— several three-dimensional light sculptures like an electric guitar and keyboard are choreographed against music, depicting different colored lights at different times and in different directions. Altogether, it is five minutes of a master coordination of lights, sounds, and even special effects such as smoke and a brief lightsaber “duel.” How would copyright law protect all the distinctive choices made in these creative expressions of a Christmas light display?
One inclination would be to register the work as “choreography” due to the emphasis on the creative decisions on the timing and movement of the lights. However, the U.S. Copyright Office’s Circular 52 on Copyright Registration of Choreography and Pantomime specifically lists “routines not performed as humans” as a category of movement that cannot be registered as a choreographic work. Specifically, neither “movement routines created for robots, machines, or other inanimate objects to perform” nor “installation art or sculptures incorporating moving parts” are copyrightable subject matter. Choreographic works and pantomimes must be intended for execution by humans per the Copyright Office, so the elaborate choices in how each light is expressed according to the accompanying music cannot be registered as a choreographic work.
But Section 101 of the Copyright Act intentionally includes the term “including” in listing out the categories of copyrightable works for situations like this, allowing for Section 102(a) subject matter to be illustrative and not limitative. Thus, it is possible that an elaborate Christmas lightshow like above could find protection in a category not aforementioned or a new category altogether. Especially in the context of AI, testing the boundaries of what “human authorship” means, the particularly esoteric nature of light show displays can result in more questions than answers in terms of whether they can be protected as a work of choreography.
The Scope of Creativity in Christmas Light Displays
Another important consideration in understanding the scope of copyright in Christmas light displays is analyzing them in the context of the originality requirement. Works are original when they have a minimal degree of creativity. The Supreme Court further explained this low bar to originality requires only a “spark” or “modicum” of creativity. An important limitation to originality is expressed in Section 102(b) of the 1976 Copyright Act though: In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work. A few Christmas light display copyright cases illustrate these principles.
Copyright Cases for Christmas Light Displays
Natural Occurrences and Animals
In 2020, one copyright case involving Christmas light displays examined whether displays and sculptures portraying naturally occurring animals, snowflakes, ice crystals, and other natural phenomena meet copyright’s low threshold for originality. In Enchant Christmas Light Maze & Mkt Ltd. v. GlowCo LLC, Enchant, a Canadian company, produced holiday-themed light shows across the U.S. featuring large three-dimensional sculptures fitted with lights. Enchant obtained copyright registrations for nine of the ten allegedly infringed light sculptures, described as “three-dimensional frames on which Christmas lights or similar small sequential lights can be placed.” Some light sculptures resembled animals like reindeer or polar bears, while others resembled objects such as sleighs or ice crystals. Enchant argued that the authors made numerous selections and arrangements of features on the sculptures warranting protection. For example, Enchant explained that its authors arranged the ice crystals as a cluster with “specific proportions, angles and qualities” and designed the sculpture so that patrons could walk among the crystals and interact with them. Adhering to Section 102(b), the court recognized that there were certain elements of the sculptures that would not be protected by copyright.
The court began its analysis by noting that copyright extends only to the expression of ideas and not to ideas themselves. In the context of Christmas, the court found that “generic, traditional trappings…such as Christmas trees, reindeer, or Christmas lights” were not copyrightable, and the same is applicable for biological and behavioral facts “first expressed by nature.” Thus, elements depicting naturally occurring postures or positions would not meet the originality requirement. This was particularly relevant in light of evidence that Enchant took significant efforts to ensure that much of the animal light sculptures looked lifelike and approachable. The court stated that it is possible for realistic reproductions of live animals to enjoy copyright protection, but only to the extent that the sculptures contained some original qualities like the pose, attitude, gesture, muscle structure, facial expression, coat, and texture of the animal or natural occurrence.
Enchant’s sculptures portrayed a polar bear cub on its hind legs, a polar bear cub with all four paws on the ground, a polar bear mother walking, an adult deer sitting with its four legs tucked under its body, an adult deer grazing, an adult deer prancing, and a structure of ice crystals protruding from the ground. When comparing the animal light sculptures to photographic representations of animals, the court found that each sculpture depicted an animal or natural phenomenon the way in which it would be found in nature. Thus, the qualities of Enchant’s sculptures that are inherent in the chosen subject — animal sculpture — were not subject to copyright protection. Furthermore, the other non-animal light sculptures were mostly generic, natural phenomena such as snowflakes and ice crystals. Ultimately, the court concluded that to the extent that there was original work warranting protection, “Enchant had a thin copyright at best.”
Wreaths, Stars, Other Common Shapes and the Merger Doctrine
Christmas light displays often take the shape of commonplace objects like present boxes, stars, or candy canes. Though there may be only so many ways to express these kinds of objects, i.e., a present box will often be in a cube, square, or rectangular shape adorned with a bow. Often referred to as the merger doctrine, this doctrine states that copyright does not protect expressions where the idea and the expression of the idea are so intertwined with one another such that the idea can be expressed in only one or very few ways. In Thimbleberries, Inc. v. C & F Enterprises, Inc., one court was asked to determine the copyrightability of a quilt pattern of a common Christmas wreath shape. The defendant argued that the quilt pattern was precluded from copyright protection because the idea of expressing a wreath in a pattern of squares or triangles is one of very few ways to express the idea of a Christmas wreath. The court rejected the defendant’s argument, noting that Thimbleberries’ quilt pattern used a “particular compilation of public domain squares, 90–degree triangles and border-strips in the particular colors, dimensions, background quilting stitches, borders and contrasting bow and wreath designs originally selected, coordinated and arranged.” In other words, the court found that the plaintiff’s particular expression of the Christmas wreath was sufficiently creative to be protected by copyright as it could be distinguished from the mere idea of a Christmas wreath. Furthermore, Thimbleberries’ prolific evidence showing nine other wreath patterns for quilters supported the argument that their particular arrangements of common shapes was minimally creative enough to be protected by copyright.
Using the same example of a present box, this means that expressions like adding different colored bows with varying textures and electric Christmas lights to illuminate, for example, a star pattern on the box could be protected by copyright law. There are several ways that the idea of a present box can be expressed, but it is the design, arrangement, and positioning of decorative additions that would be eligible for copyright protection. The merger doctrine ensures that all creators can use basic building blocks for expressions that results in the minimal degree of creativity required to obtain copyright protection.
Santa and Scènes à faire
In Kurt S. Adler, Inc. v. World Bazaars, Inc., plaintiff Kurt S. Adler, Inc. (“Adler”)sought a preliminary injunction against defendant World Bazaars, Inc. (“WBI”) over claims that WBI’s “Musical Bubble Blowing Santa” Christmas tree ornament infringed Adler’s copyright in his “Christmas Bubble Santa” ornament. The court noted that although there are virtually infinite ways to express the idea of Santa as a Christmas tree ornament, there are standard or stock elements of a particular work that are not original. In discerning the unoriginal elements of the works in question, the court engaged in a “scènes à faire”-like analysis, in which a court analyzes what elements would be natural or obviously follow from a certain topic. In this case, a “jolly, rotund, elder gentleman, wearing a red suit and floppy cap with white trim, and a black belt and boots” were the stereotypical elements of Santa Claus that are unprotected.
However, the court found several protectible elements within the expression of stereotypical elements of Santa Claus. For example, it found that the pear shape used for Santa’s head, the emphasis of a red underlip, an upcurving mustache, etc. were all protectible elements. Furthermore, the court distinguished that protectible elements can be as minute as the level of detail in Santa’s beard or the color of his mittens, like choosing green mittens instead of black gloves. Thus, Christmas light displays including commonplace Christmas characters such as Santa Claus can be protected by copyright in that the expressive elements are varied from their standard treatment in Christmas lore.
Conclusion
If it turns out that you don’t want a lot for Christmas and there is only one thing you need, a copyright claim in Christmas light displays you can have indeed! Regardless of the presents underneath the Christmas tree, with some original protectible elements, Christmas light displays can be protected by copyright law. More than you could ever know, your wish can come true – All I want for Christmas is copyright protection!
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