Development of Creative Commons licenses

["Jonathon Blake" <jonathon.blake AT gmail.com>]

Rob wrote:

>  Can palettes be copyrighted or are they just facts?

Depending upon jurisdiction, copyright may, or may not be enforceable.
In the US it isn't enforceable.
In Canada, it might be enforceable.

> Pantone claim that you can't use their colour definition names, but that 
> seems more likely to be to do with trade description law rather than 
> copyright.

Pantone protects the color names, and definitions through the use of a EULA.

This is why it is legal to go to a print shop and say: "I want the
blue on this picture to be Pantone Blue # 1, and the green to be
Pantone Green # 2", but it is not legal to create a palette and say
"This blue is Pantone Blue # 1, this green is Pantone Green# 1."

I'll also  point out that every few years, Pantone changes the
definition of their colours. This means that over time, the same
Pantone  colour may  display different shades.
[I really pity all of those organizations, especially government
agencies,who discover that the colors they use have changed shades,and
no longer  match the rest of the corporate image.]

xan

jonathon