Spark of Creativity or Judgement: Originality Standards

Originality is an essential requirement for the copyrightability of any artistic and literary work. Creative works are afforded copyright protection only if they are original. Originality has yet to be defined by international or national laws including Iranian Laws. The judicial interpretation of national laws also differ from one another and there is no consensus on the concept of Originality. Under traditional approach, Originality is often referred as to "labor and effort" or "self expression " of the author, whereas the more approach is that of "creativity " and exercise of "skill and judgment ". However, all legal systems recognize that the work must be independent and not copied from another work.The main question of this Article is which approach can strike a balance between author’s rights and public interest to cheap and easy access to artistic works. This article will examine originality under different jurisdictions and concludes the Canadian definition is the more appropriate approach to the said question. Finally, it suggests that the Iranian legislature shall replace the term “creativity” with “skill and judgment” in 14 of article 1 of the copyright bill.