Legal Question in Business Law in Texas

public domain of business information

is business information public domain? If a business publishes it's phone #, address, description in the yellow pages, white pages, etc. can I legally use that information and re-publish it myself? Example: If I wanted to create a public web site of all grocery stores in my city and i wanted to publish their name, phone, address, etc. for the public to view, do i need to officially get that business' approval?


Asked on 3/23/00, 3:23 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Paul T. Hebda, Ph.D., J.D. The Hebda Law Firm

Re: public domain of business information

Under Feist vs. Rural Telephone, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that mere compilations, collections of facts, are not copyrightable per se. However, if three specific elements are met, then the work could be copyrightable. I suggest that you go online and read Feist.

Read more
Answered on 3/28/00, 8:44 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Business Law questions and answers in Texas